Chapter 39 The Old Palace
"Morgana's mother?" Mara felt her blood run cold. "Morgana has a mother?"
"Yes. And she is ten times more powerful. Ten times more cruel." The Shadow King's voice was grim. "She cursed me because I refused to serve her. To become her weapon. When I rejected her, she made me into the monster you see now."
"Why did she not just kill you?"
"Because death would have been mercy. She wanted me to suffer. To kill innocents for eternity. To lose myself piece by piece." The Shadow King looked at Mara with his burning white eyes. "You remind her of me. Young. Powerful. Idealistic. She will want to break you too."
"Then why tell me about her? Why warn me?"
"Because if you succeed in breaking my curse, you will need to defeat her. And you cannot defeat what you do not understand."
The Shadow King started to fade. "Meet me at the Old Palace gates at dawn. Come prepared for war. Because that is what this will be."
He vanished completely.
Everyone started talking at once.
"The Witch Queen is real?"
"I thought she was just a legend!"
"We cannot fight her! She destroyed entire kingdoms!"
"QUIET!" Elder Sage's voice cut through the noise. "Panicking helps no one. We need a plan."
"The plan is simple," Mara said. "We go to the Old Palace. We do the ritual. We break the Shadow King's curse."
"And if the Witch Queen attacks?" Marcus asked.
"Then we fight her."
"With what? She is immortal! She cannot be killed!"
"Then we find a way to trap her. Seal her. Something." Mara looked at everyone. "I am going no matter what. Anyone who wants to come with me can. Anyone who wants to stay can do that too."
"I am coming," Zevran said immediately.
"Me too," Riven added.
"And me," Luna said.
One by one, wolves stepped forward. Pledging to go with Mara. To face the Witch Queen together.
By the end, about a hundred wolves had volunteered.
"That is not enough," Marcus said. "We need an army to face the Witch Queen."
"Then call the other packs," Mara said. "Call everyone who owes us a debt. Tell them we need help."
Messengers were sent immediately. To Queen Adira. To the Northern Packs. To every ally they had made.
That night, Mara could not sleep. She lay awake, thinking about the Witch Queen. About Morgana. About how this was all connected.
"You should rest," Zevran said beside her. "Tomorrow will be hard."
"I know. But my mind will not stop."
"Talk to me. What are you thinking?"
"I am thinking that Morgana set this up. She knew about the Witch Queen. Knew that trying to break the Shadow King's curse would bring me into conflict with her mother."
"Why would she do that?"
"I do not know. But nothing Morgana does is random. She is playing a game. And we are the pieces."
"Then we stop playing by her rules. We make our own moves."
"How?"
"By doing the unexpected. By succeeding where everyone thinks we will fail." Zevran pulled her close. "You have beaten every impossible challenge so far. The curse. The Shadow Wolves. The war. You can beat this too."
"What if I cannot?"
"Then we face failure together. As we always have."
Mara kissed him. "I love you. Even when you say cheesy things."
"Especially when I say cheesy things."
They held each other until sleep finally came.
Dawn arrived too quickly.
Mara woke to find messengers had returned with good news and bad news.
"Queen Adira is sending five hundred warriors," the first messenger reported. "They will arrive by tonight."
"The Northern Packs are sending three hundred," another messenger said. "But they cannot arrive for three days."
"We cannot wait three days," Marcus said. "The Shadow King expects us at dawn. That is now."
"Then we go with what we have," Mara decided. "A hundred wolves. Maybe more will join us along the way."
They gathered their supplies. Weapons. Food. Medicine. Everything they might need.
Mara strapped Mooncleaver to her back. The sword hummed with power, recognizing its wielder.
"Ready?" Zevran asked.
"As ready as I will ever be."
They set out at sunrise. The journey to the Old Palace would take all day. Through dangerous forests. Across rivers. Over mountains.
The Shadow King met them on the road. He walked beside them in his massive wolf form, silent and brooding.
"Tell me about your brother," Mara said as they walked. "What was his name?"
"Aiden. He was younger than me. Kind. Gentle. Everything I was not." The Shadow King's voice was distant. "When I was cursed, he tried to break it. Spent his whole life searching for a cure. But he failed. Died of old age never knowing if I could be saved."
"He sounds like a good brother."
"He was the best. And I repaid his loyalty by becoming the thing he feared most. A monster."
"You are not a monster. You are a victim."
"There is no difference. Not anymore."
They walked in silence for a while.
Around noon, they stopped to rest by a stream. Scouts reported that something was following them.
"What kind of something?" Riven asked.
"We do not know. But it is big. And it is staying just out of sight."
"Everyone stay alert," Zevran ordered. "Could be an ambush."
They continued walking. The feeling of being watched grew stronger.
Then the attack came.
Creatures burst from the trees. They looked like wolves but wrong. Twisted. Their bodies were covered in black scales. Their eyes glowed red. Their mouths were filled with too many teeth.
"Corrupted wolves!" Nyra screamed. "The Witch Queen's servants! Do not let them bite you! Their poison turns you into one of them!"
The battle erupted. Corrupted wolves swarmed from every direction. Dozens of them. Maybe more.
Mara drew Mooncleaver. The sword blazed with white light. When she struck a corrupted wolf with it, the creature dissolved into ash.
"The sword works!" she called. "It can kill them!"
But there was only one sword and too many enemies.
The Shadow King roared and charged into the corrupted wolves. His massive jaws crushed them. His claws tore them apart. He was a whirlwind of destruction.
Together, Mara and the Shadow King fought side by side. Light and dark working together. The corrupted wolves began to retreat.
But then something worse appeared.
A woman stepped out of the forest. She was beautiful in a terrible way. White hair that floated around her like smoke. Eyes that were solid black. She wore a dress made of shadows and bones.
"Hello, Kieran," she said. Her voice was like honey mixed with poison. "It has been a long time."
The Shadow King froze. "Elara. The Witch Queen."
"You remember me. I am touched." Elara smiled. "And you brought me a gift. The new Moon Wolf. How thoughtful."
"Stay away from her," the Shadow King growled.
"Why? So you can kill her yourself? How noble." Elara walked closer. The corrupted wolves parted for her. "I have a better idea. Why not let me kill her? Then you can stop pretending you have a choice. Stop pretending you are anything but my slave."
"I am not your slave."
"Oh, but you are. You have been since the day I cursed you. Every Moon Wolf you killed, you did because I commanded it. Every innocent you destroyed, you did because I willed it." Elara's black eyes gleamed. "You are my weapon. My tool. My greatest creation."
"That is a lie."
"Is it? Then why have you not broken my curse in a thousand years? Because deep down, you do not want to. Deep down, you enjoy being a monster. It is easier than being a hero."
The Shadow King said nothing. But Mara saw doubt in his burning white eyes.
"Do not listen to her!" Mara called. "She is manipulating you!"
"Such spirit. Such fire." Elara turned to Mara. "Tell me, child. Do you really think you can break a curse I spent centuries perfecting? Do you think you are special?"
"No. But I think everyone deserves a second chance. Even monsters."
"How touching. How naive." Elara raised her hand. Black energy gathered around her fingers. "Let me show you what happens to those who try to defy me."
She threw the black energy at Mara.
The Shadow King jumped in front of her. The energy hit him instead.
He roared in pain and collapsed.
"No!" Mara ran to him. "Are you okay?"
"Fine. Just hurt." The Shadow King struggled to stand. "You need to run. Now. She is too powerful."
"I am not leaving you!"
"Foolish girl. You should have run when you had the chance." Elara walked toward them slowly. More black energy gathering in her hands. "Now you will die here. Along with my failed experiment."
Mara raised Mooncleaver. The sword blazed brighter than ever.
"I will not let you hurt him. Or anyone else."
"You cannot stop me. I am eternal. I am power itself." Elara's black eyes swirled with malice. "I am the darkness that existed before light. The void that will consume everything. And you are just a scared little girl with a glowing sword."
She threw another blast of black energy. This one was bigger. Stronger.
Mara raised her sword to block it.
The energy hit the blade. The two forces collided. Light and dark. Good and evil. Hope and despair.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the sword shattered.
Mooncleaver broke into a hundred pieces. The shards fell to the ground, their light dying.
"No!" Mara stared at the broken sword in shock.
"Yes." Elara smiled. "Now you have nothing. Nothing but your pathetic powers and your misguided hope. Neither will save you."
She raised both hands. Black energy swirled around her like a storm.
"Time to die, Moon Wolf. Time to join all the others who thought they could defeat me."
The black energy shot toward Mara like a spear.
Mara had no weapon. No defense. No way to survive.
She was going to die.
But then the Shadow King stood. Despite his injuries. Despite the pain. He placed himself between Mara and the Witch Queen one more time.
"Enough, Elara," he said. His voice was weak but firm. "You want to kill someone? Kill me. But leave her alone."
"You dare give me orders?"
"I dare to choose. For the first time in a thousand years, I choose." The Shadow King looked back at Mara. "Run. Find my brother's tomb. Do the ritual without me. Break the curse from the outside."
"But I need your blood! The ritual will not work without you!"
"Then use this." The Shadow King bit his own paw. Blood dripped to the ground. "Take it. Hurry."
Mara pulled out a vial and collected the blood. Her hands were shaking.
"I will come back for you. I promise."
"Do not make promises you cannot keep." The Shadow King turned back to face Elara. "Go. Now. While I hold her off."
"You cannot hold me off," Elara said. "You are weak. Broken. Mine."
"Maybe. But I can slow you down. Long enough for her to escape." The Shadow King charged at the Witch Queen.
They collided in an explosion of light and dark energy.
"Run!" Zevran grabbed Mara's arm. "We have to go!"
Mara wanted to stay. Wanted to fight. But she knew she would only die uselessly.
She ran. With Zevran and the others. Away from the battle. Away from the Shadow King.
Behind them, she heard roaring. Screaming. The sound of magic tearing reality apart.
"He is buying us time!" Luna called. "Do not waste it!"
They ran for hours. Not stopping. Not looking back.
Finally, as the sun was setting, they saw it. The Old Palace. Crumbling and ancient but still standing.
And in front of the gates stood a figure waiting for them.
Morgana.
"Hello, Moon Wolf," she said with a smile. "I have been expecting you."