Chapter 28: Crescent Residence

"Because it was gone." He looked at me. "By the High Priestess herself before she died to keep this secret from people who don't have magic in their blood."

As I raised my hands above the circle, they were shaking.

The cave as a whole shook.

It was awake after all these years.

There was a rustling sound in the darkness.

As soon as Sage and I turned around, six figures, rough and armed came out of the darkness.

One stepped forward. Her armour was made of old leather and scrap metal that had been sewn together. A hawk, its claws shining, clung to her shoulder.

Her eyes got very close to mine. “It's been ten years since anyone woke this place up. Who are you?"

I wasn't moving.

"Someone who wants to kill Alucard."

She didn't lower her sword right away. Instead, she looked at me like I was prey and then looked at the others. Then, she slowly put her sword away.

"My name is Riven. Our group is the only one of the Crescent Resistance left. You just made the building work again. Either you're a goddess or you're causing trouble.”

Sage smiled at her funny. "Why not both?"

Raven laughed out loud. "Fair."

They walked us inside. More inside the refuge.

I was expecting ruins and decay. I found life. Hope.

The broken hallways were lined with makeshift beds. Kids worked on sword forms while tired soldiers watched them carefully. Healers went from one hurt person to another.

Yes, there was pain here. But also a reason. Moving. Building up.

Riven showed us an old war table with torn and worn maps all over it. The maps were marked with blood and ink and had been written on and torn many times.

Her voice got softer as she spoke. "We've been spread out since Alucard betrayed the Guilds. There were a lot of deaths. Leaders of us. We've been getting by, not fighting."

I looked at her. How tough her jaw was. The way her eyes kept going to the kids. "But you want to fight."

She gave a slow nod. "Yes."

Something inside me moved forward that was bigger than anger and payback."Then fight with me."

The room went quiet.

No one moved.

No one moved.

Then an older person came forward. His hair was white and thin, and his back was bent. He looked at my hands. His eyes got bigger. And sparkled.

"The marks..." His voice was shaking. “You are from the Nightborne Line.”

Everything stopped moving.

I went cold. "How do you know that name?"

We looked at each other. "Because your mum lit this little church once. Now, her daughter has set it on fire again.”

The rebels heard a whisper that moved through them like wind through dry leaves. I thought I heard my mom's name. Weapons were lowered. Hopes rose. It wasn't just applause.

It was faith.

I stood in front of them, not as a prisoner, not as a broken Luna, and not even as the girl Alucard failed to crush.

He thought the power was gone, but he was the heir to it.

And soon...

He would understand what a mistake it was to let me live.

I got up every morning before the sun got to the cracks in the cave roof. Even though my bones hurt and my muscles screamed, I kept going. Because I had to. Because I wanted to.

Sage taught me first; his moves were quick and smooth.

I was in the training pit cut into the stone floor of the temple. He would circle me and say, "Magic is like a blade. Beautiful. But dangerous if used wrong."

I bled more than I want to say. At first, I couldn't control my fire, and it smashed targets, burned my hands, and even knocked Sage off his feet once.

He made sure I didn't forget that.

But there was more than just fighting. The safe place had more than just old guns. Riven led me to a room that was locked and had a door with runes that only I could read.

Scrolls and books inside with old truths.

Spells that are older than countries.

Journals written by priestesses in the past.

I read every night until my eyes hurt. My power came back, and it wasn't just the magic in my blood. It was something deeper. Greater.

The power of the Nightborne had been dormant for many years. But in me, it came back.

Some days I worked out with kids. As I moved in the middle of the fight, they looked at me with wide eyes. My wolf was flickering under my skin, and its fur was made of shadow and moonlight.

The first time I saw it, the partial change scared me. My eyes were like two suns, and my hands were like claws.

Sage knelt next to me after I fell and told me, "Don't fight it." "You're not just a woman or a wolf." You're both. "Let her in."

I did that.

And she came, screaming through my blood, wild and angry and wanting to get even.

It got stronger between us as I gave in to her more.

By the end of the second week, I was ready for a real fight and could beat three rebels. With a word, I could break rocks. I no longer felt like prey when I walked.

It was like I was a hunter again.

But not just any bad guy.

I could feel something waking up in me.

Something... royal.

It scared me more than the dark ever did.

I had no plans to find it.

The sanctuary had many places that were closed off, with rooms hidden by vines and stairs buried under rocks. A magic thread led me more to follow my gut than to use logic.

That's how I found a narrow path behind the Hall of Statues.

When I touched the stone, it moved.

When the door creaked open, I walked down it, leaving Sage and Riven behind.

It was cold in the room below.