Chapter 123 123
Chapter 123 123
SELENE’S POV
The first strike doesn’t come from him. It comes from me. Power snaps outward before thought can catch it, sharp and precise, forcing Vayer back a step as the ground beneath us fractures under the pressure. The air warps, bending around the force of it, and for a split second, everything holds, balanced on the edge of something far worse.
Then he moves fast. Too fast for anything human. He cuts through the distance between us like he’s done this a thousand times before, his counterstrike colliding with mine midair. The impact cracks outward, a violent ripple that tears through the trees, snapping branches like they weigh nothing.
“Stop this!” he snaps.
“No.” The word leaves me colder than I expect, but there’s no hesitation in it. Not now. Not after everything I’ve already set into motion.
His expression hardens instantly. “You’re too late,” he says. “Whatever you’re trying to save…” His voice drops, sharper. “…he’s already gone.”
Something in my chest tightens, no doubt but something far more dangerous. “Don’t,” I warn.
But Vayer doesn’t stop. “I can feel it,” he presses, stepping in again, his power rising to meet mine without restraint now. “The bond is collapsing. There’s nothing left to hold onto.”
“Then you’re feeling it wrong.”
Our powers collide again, harder this time. The force of it sends a shockwave outward, and this time it doesn’t go unnoticed. Movement flickers at the edges of the clearing.
Wolves. Drawn by the disturbance, by the pressure tearing through the air, by something instinctive that tells them this isn’t a fight they should be anywhere near. They come anyway. One by one. Then more. They’re waiting and watching, mostly to see if I will fail or succeed.
Vayer notices. His jaw tightens. “Look around you,” he says, gesturing sharply. “This is what you’re doing. You’re dragging all of them into something they can’t survive.”
“I’m not the one who decided the cost,” I fire back.
“No,” he agrees flatly. “You’re just the one refusing to pay it.”
The words hit clean and for a split second, my control slips. Power surges violently outward, sharper than before, less contained. It catches him off guard, forcing him back several steps this time, his foot breaking as the ground gives beneath him. But he recovers quickly, too quickly for my liking
“You think fighting me changes anything?” he demands, advancing again, his voice cutting through the rising tension. “You think this brings him back?”
“It already is.”
The certainty in my voice stills him for half a second just enough. I move first. This time, there’s no restraint in it. The force I release isn’t controlled the way it was before… It’s deeper, pulling from something I’ve already committed to, something that burns through me as much as it strengthens me. Vayer feels it.
I see it in the way his expression shifts, not fear but understanding that I’m not backing down.
“Selene…”
Too late. The impact hits him fully this time. He blocks most of it, but not all. It throws him back hard enough to tear through the ground behind him, his body slamming into the base of a tree with enough force to splinter it on impact. The clearing still goes on. For a second. Then he laughs. It’s rough. Strained. But there’s something steady in it that doesn’t sit right.
“You really did it,” he says, pushing himself up slowly, despite the strain showing now in the tightness of his movements. “You crossed it.”
“I told you I would.”
His gaze lifts to mine again and this time, there’s no argument left in it. Only resolve. “Then this ends now.”
The shift in him is totally immediate. Whatever restraint he held onto before, it’s gone. His power surges outward, darker, heavier, pressing against mine with a force that makes the air feel too thin to breathe. The wolves at the edge of the clearing falter, some stepping back, others dropping low under the pressure.
This is no longer controlled. This is final. He moves then I meet him. The collision is instant and brutal, power tearing through the space between us in violent bursts that leave nothing untouched. The ground splits under our feet, the air cracking with every impact, every strike pushing harder, faster, closer to breaking.
“Let him go!” Vayer roars.
“No!”
“HE’S GONE!”
“NO!”
The denial rips out of me before anything else can take its place, raw and absolute. My power answers it instantly, surging harder, deeper, too deep. Something tears, not outside but inside. The bond. Has to be it. It pulls sharply, violently, like something on the other end is yanking back just as hard.
My breath stutters, and Vayer sees it. His expression shifts instantly, not triumph. He takes the opportunity.
“I told you,” he says, quieter now, but far more dangerous as he steps in close… too close. “You’re breaking it.”
“Then watch me fix it.” His hand comes up, not to strike but to end me.
I move first. There’s no thought in it. No hesitation. Just instinct and everything I’ve already sacrificed driving the motion forward.
Power surges through me, uncontrolled now, burning as it moves and I release it. At this range, there’s no blocking it. The impact lands clean and direct. Vayer’s body stills instantly. The force of it doesn’t throw him back this time. It goes through him. The clearing falls silent completely.
Even the air seems to stop. For a second, nothing moves. Vayer sways slightly where he stands, his gaze still locked on mine. There’s no anger left in it now, no fight. Just something quieter.
“You…” His voice is faint now, barely holding. “…never stop.”
“No.” A breath comes out shallow.
“…good.”
The word barely forms before the strength leaves him completely. His body gives out. And this time, he doesn’t get back up. The silence that follows is heavier than anything that came before it.
No one moves nor speaks. Even the wolves at the edge of the clearing stay frozen, like they’re not sure what they just witnessed. But I don’t look at them, I can’t. Because the moment Vayer falls, the bond snaps into place violently.