Chapter 41 Continuation
The palace began to shake. Dust fell from the ceiling. Cracks appeared in the walls.
"What is happening?" Riven shouted.
"Elara knows what we are doing!" Morgana's face was pale. "She is collapsing the palace! She would rather kill us all than let Kieran go free!"
"How long do we have?"
"Minutes! Maybe less!"
"Then we finish the ritual now!" Mara grabbed Morgana. "What is left?"
"The final words! I need to speak the final words!" Morgana's voice rose over the sound of crumbling stone. "But if I do, Elara will know I betrayed her! She will unmake me!"
"Then let her! Do it anyway!"
Morgana looked at Mara. At the determination in her eyes. At the hope that refused to die.
"You are very annoying, Moon Wolf. Has anyone told you that?"
"Constantly."
"Good. At least you know." Morgana smiled. Then she screamed the final words of the ritual. Words that shook reality itself.
The pillar of light exploded. Engulfed the entire tomb. Mara could not see anything. Could not hear anything. Just light and power and something ancient being shattered.
When the light faded, everything was different.
Isla lay on the ground, unconscious but breathing. Her eyes were empty of recognition. Empty of memory. But alive.
Morgana was fading. Her red eyes dimmed. Her form turned to smoke.
"Did it work?" Mara asked desperately.
"Yes. The curse is broken. Kieran is free." Morgana smiled as she dissolved. "Thank you, Moon Wolf. For giving me the courage to choose. To rebel. To be more than what I was made to be."
"Wait! Do not go! We need you!"
"No. You need to run. Before this entire place collapses on your heads." Morgana's voice was barely a whisper now. "Tell Kieran I am sorry. For everything."
Then she was gone. Nothing left but fading smoke.
The palace shook harder. Stone fell from the ceiling.
"Everyone out! NOW!" Zevran grabbed Isla's unconscious body and ran.
They raced back through the corridors. Behind them, the palace was collapsing. Room by room. Floor by floor. Everything falling into ruin.
They burst out of the gates just as the entire structure came crashing down. The noise was deafening. Dust filled the air.
When it cleared, the Old Palace was nothing but rubble.
"Is everyone okay?" Mara called out.
"Here!" Luna's voice. "A bit bruised but alive!"
"Here!" Riven called.
One by one, everyone reported in. They had all made it out. Barely.
Zevran laid Isla down gently. "She is breathing. But she is not waking up."
Mara knelt beside her friend. "Isla? Can you hear me?"
Isla's eyes opened slowly. They were confused. Lost.
"Who are you?" she asked.
Mara's heart broke. But she smiled through tears. "I am Mara. I am your friend. And I am going to help you remember everything."
"I do not understand. Where am I?"
"Somewhere safe. For now." Mara looked up at the sky. Dawn was breaking. "We did it. We broke the curse."
As if summoning him with her words, the Shadow King appeared. But he looked different.
His massive shadow form was changing. Shrinking. Becoming more solid. More real.
The white eyes faded to normal wolf eyes. Blue eyes. Human eyes.
And then he was not a shadow anymore. He was a wolf. A normal wolf with black fur and blue eyes.
He transformed to human form. A man in his thirties with black hair and those same blue eyes. He looked shocked.
"I am free," he whispered. "After a thousand years. I am finally free."
"Kieran," Mara said. "Your true name."
"Yes. My name." He looked at his hands like he could not believe they were real. "I can feel again. The sun. The wind. Life."
But his smile faded when he looked at something behind them.
"Run," he said quietly.
"What?"
"RUN!" Kieran's voice boomed. "She is coming! Elara is coming! And she is furious!"
The sky turned black. Lightning crackled. Thunder boomed.
And from the darkness came the Witch Queen. Floating. Glowing with malice.
"YOU BROKE MY CURSE!" Her voice shook the earth. "YOU FREED MY WEAPON! YOU WILL ALL DIE FOR THIS!"
Black energy gathered around her hands. More power than Mara had ever seen. More than she thought possible.
"We cannot fight her," Kieran said. "She is too strong. We have to—"
"No more running," Mara interrupted. She stepped forward. "I am tired of running from evil. Tired of letting bullies win. We fight her. Here. Now. Together."
"She will kill us all!"
"Maybe. But at least we will die fighting. Die free." Mara looked at everyone. "Who is with me?"
"I am," Zevran said without hesitation.
"And me," Riven added.
"Me too," Luna said.
One by one, everyone stepped forward. Even Kieran. Even the wounded. Even those who could barely stand.
"Then we stand together," Mara said. "Light and dark. Past and present. United against the darkness."
She called on her power. White and black energy swirled around her.
Elara laughed. "You think your little tricks can stop me? I am eternal! I am—"
A voice interrupted her. A voice Mara knew.
"You talk too much, mother."
Another figure appeared. Rising from the ashes of the Old Palace.
Morgana. But not fading. Not dying. Solid. Real. Stronger than before.
"Impossible," Elara whispered. "I unmade you."
"You tried. But breaking Kieran's curse broke your hold on me too. I am free now. Free to choose. Free to fight." Morgana's red eyes blazed. "And I choose to destroy you."
She raised her hands. Red energy exploded outward. It collided with Elara's black energy.
The two powers fought. Clashed. Neither giving ground.
"Help me!" Morgana called to Mara. "Combine your power with mine! Together we can beat her!"
"Do not trust her!" Kieran shouted. "She is still a Shadow Wolf! Still dangerous!"
"I know!" Mara shouted back. "But right now she is our only chance!"
She reached out with her silver power. It connected with Morgana's red energy. The two forces merged.
Silver and red. Moon and shadow. Hope and rage.
Together, they struck at Elara.
The Witch Queen screamed. The combined power was too much. Too strong.
"This is not over!" Elara shrieked as the power consumed her. "I will return! I always return!"
"Not this time," Morgana said coldly.
The energy exploded. When the light faded, Elara was gone. Nothing remained but smoke and ash.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
"Is she dead?" Luna asked quietly.
"No," Morgana said. She looked exhausted. "But she is banished. Sent to the void between worlds. She will not return for a thousand years. Maybe more."
"We won," Mara whispered. "We actually won."
"Yes. For now." Morgana turned to leave. "I must go. I have much to think about. Much to atone for."
"Wait!" Mara called. "Where will you go?"
"Somewhere far from here. Somewhere I can learn to be more than what I was made to be." Morgana looked back. "Thank you, Moon Wolf. For showing me that even creatures of darkness can choose light."
She vanished into shadows.
Mara collapsed. Every muscle hurt. Every bone ached. She was completely drained.
But they had won. Against impossible odds. They had won.
Zevran caught her before she hit the ground. "Easy. I have got you."
"Is it really over?" Mara asked.
"For now. Rest. You earned it."
Mara closed her eyes. For the first time in weeks, she felt peace.
But that peace was shattered by Isla's scream.