Chapter 184 The Artifact Awakens
POV: Luna
The artifact pulsed again. Stronger each time.
"We need to contain it!" Sienna shouted. "Before it fully activates!"
"How?" I asked. "It's massive! Otherworld-level magic!"
"We build a barrier! Layer by layer! Contain it until we figure out how to destroy it!"
"Everyone who can cast, form a circle!" the Headmaster ordered, appearing with other faculty.
We formed a massive circle around the artifact. Students. Faculty. Everyone.
"On my mark!" the Headmaster said. "Three! Two! One! Cast!"
Hundreds of voices chanting. Hundreds of spells combining.
A barrier formed. Shimmering. Powerful. Containing the artifact.
But it wasn't enough.
The artifact pulsed. The barrier cracked.
"We need more power!" Professor Thorne shouted.
"There is no more power! We're all tapped out!"
The artifact pulsed again. The barrier shattered completely.
Dark magic exploded outward. Washing over everything.
Rogues materialized. Not physical. Pure magical constructs. Born from the artifact's energy.
"Not again!" Nova groaned.
"Defensive positions!" I ordered.
We fought. But we were exhausted. Drained. Running on fumes.
The magical rogues kept coming. Endless. Overwhelming.
"We can't keep this up!" Aria gasped.
"We have to! If that artifact fully activates—"
The artifact pulsed again. This time, it created magical traps.
Pockets of unstable reality. Touch one and you'd be pulled into the otherworld. Lost forever.
"Watch your footing!" Liam warned. "Those spots are deadly!"
We fought carefully. Avoiding traps. Destroying magical rogues. Barely surviving.
I partially shifted again. Maintaining human enough to use Eclipse power. Wolf enough for strength.
It was exhausting. Painful. But necessary.
Through the pack bonds, I coordinated. Directed. Supported.
Through the mate bond, Liam and I synchronized. Perfect timing. Maximum efficiency.
But it wasn't enough. We were losing ground.
"Luna!" Selene called. "I can contain it! With my royal aura! But I need your Eclipse power to stabilize it!"
"That's too dangerous! If we fail—"
"If we don't try, everyone dies anyway!"
She was right.
"Okay! Everyone! Protect Selene and Luna! They're going after the artifact!"
My pack formed a protective escort. Fighting off magical rogues. Clearing a path.
Selene and I reached the artifact.
Up close, it was terrifying. Pulsing with power that shouldn't exist.
"Ready?" Selene asked.
"No. But let's do it anyway."
She manifested her aura. Royal magic wrapping around the artifact. Containing it.
But royal magic and otherworld energy were incompatible. They fought. Clashed.
"I can't hold it alone!" Selene gasped.
I channeled Eclipse power. Filtered through my mark. Stabilized by Miguel's essence.
The two magics combined. Royal and Eclipse. Light and purification.
Together, we contained the artifact. Stabilized it. Prevented it from fully activating.
But it fought back. Hard.
Through my mark, I felt Cole's spell activate. The connection he'd planted.
The artifact pulsed directly at me. At my mark. Recognizing me. Calling to me.
"What's happening?" Selene asked.
"The artifact. It's reacting to my mark. Like it's alive. Like it knows me."
"Can you control it?"
"I don't know. But I can feel it. Feel its intention. Its purpose."
Through the connection, I sensed the artifact's design.
It wasn't just a tool. It was a key. A bridge. A way to permanently merge reality and otherworld.
And it needed Eclipse power to activate fully.
My Eclipse power specifically.
"Cole designed this for me," I realized. "The whole thing. He built it to use my power as fuel."
"Then disconnect! Break the connection!"
"I can't! If I do, the artifact destabilizes! Explodes! Takes half of Silverwood with it!"
"So you're stuck! Connected to the thing trying to destroy reality!"
"Exactly!"
The artifact pulsed again. Stronger. More insistent.
And through my mark, I felt it reaching. Searching. Trying to activate the connection Cole had planted.
If it succeeded, I'd become a conduit. A battery. Powering the very thing I was trying to stop.
"We need to destroy it!" Liam shouted. "Before it fully connects to Luna!"
"We can't!" Sienna replied. "It's too powerful! Any attack that could destroy it would kill Luna too!"
"Then what do we do?"
"We contain it. Long enough to figure out how to safely dismantle it."
"How long is that?"
"I don't know. Hours? Days?"
"Luna can't maintain this for days! She's already exhausted!"
He was right. I could feel my strength fading. The artifact draining me.
Soon, I'd collapse. And then the artifact would activate. And reality would end.
"There has to be another way," I said.
"Like what?" Selene asked.
"Like accepting the connection. Instead of fighting it."
"That's insane! That's exactly what Cole wants!"
"Maybe. Or maybe I can turn it against him. Use the connection to trace back to the source. Find out where he is. What he's planning."
"Or you give him exactly what he needs to complete his ritual."
"It's a risk. But we're out of options."
Through the mate bond, I felt Liam's fear. His desperation.
"Don't do this," he said. "Please. There has to be another way."
"There isn't. And we both know it."
I stopped fighting the connection. Stopped resisting.
Let the artifact's energy flow into my mark. Through me.
Immediately, I felt Cole's presence. Stronger. Clearer.
And through him, I saw the plan. The full scope of what the architects had been building.
Not just breaking the seal. Reshaping reality itself. Creating a new world where power wasn't inherited. Where destiny didn't exist. Where everyone started equal.
It was beautiful. Impossible. And required everyone currently alive to die first.
"Luna!" Liam's voice pulled me back. "You're glowing! The artifact is activating!"
I was. My mark was blazing. The artifact pulsing in sync with it.
We were connected. Fully. Completely.
And through that connection, I felt Cole's triumph.
You're mine now, Luna. Your power. Your mark. Your destiny. All mine.
But he'd made a mistake.
He'd assumed I'd fight. Resist. Struggle.
Instead, I'd accepted. Embraced. Flowed with the connection.
And in doing so, I'd gained access. To the artifact. To its design. To its weaknesses.
"I know how to stop it," I said.
"How?" Selene asked.
"Overload it. Like I did with Cole's crystal. Pour so much power through it that it can't contain it all."
"That'll kill you!"
"Maybe. But it's the only way."
"Luna, no!" Liam protested. "We'll find another way!"
"There is no other way. And we both know it."
Through the pack bonds, I reached out. I need all of you. Everything you have. Channel it through me. Into the artifact. We end this. Now.
Luna, this will kill you! Nova protested.
Maybe. But if I don't try, we all die. At least this way, some of us survive.
Reluctantly, they agreed.
One by one, my pack channeled their power. Through the bonds. Into me.
Nova's wild strength. Aria's tactical precision. Sienna's ancient knowledge. Lyric's technical innovation. Aiden's chaotic energy.
And Liam. My mate. My anchor. My love. He channeled everything. Held nothing back.
Through the mate bond, I felt his absolute faith. His trust. His willingness to follow me anywhere.
Even to death.
I took it all. Combined it with my Eclipse power. With Miguel's essence. With the divine connection to the goddess.
Then I channeled it. All of it. Into the artifact.
The artifact pulsed. Brighter. Stronger. Overwhelmed by the influx of power.
It started to crack. To fracture. To fail.
"It's working!" Selene shouted.
But the backlash. The backlash was devastating.
Energy exploded outward. I took the full force of it.
Pain beyond anything I'd ever felt. Every nerve on fire. Every cell screaming.
I was dying. I could feel it. Feel my life draining away.
Through the mate bond, Liam felt it too. Screamed my name.
Then Miguel's essence activated. One final gift. One final protection.
It absorbed the worst of the backlash. Shielded me. Saved me.
At the cost of itself.
Miguel's presence. His essence. His anchored soul. It dissolved. Burned away. Sacrificed to save me.
Goodbye, Luna, I felt him whisper. Live. Be happy. Don't waste the chance I'm giving you.
Then he was gone. Truly gone. No essence. No anchor. Nothing.
Just memory.
The artifact exploded. But contained by Selene's aura. Minimal damage to Silverwood.
When the light faded, I was unconscious. Barely breathing. But alive.
And the artifact. The artifact was destroyed.
Cole's plan. Failed.
For now.