Chapter 60 The Unsealing of the Curse

Chapter 60 The Unsealing of the Curse
60: The Unsealing of the Curse

If anyone ever writes a history book about this night, I hope they include the part where I tripped over my own grief and destiny at the same time. Because that is exactly what it felt like walking toward the ancient altar of Dravenmoor, soaking with moonlight like a stage designed specifically for tragedy.

The air smelled like burnt pine and storm. The mountains looked alive with shadows. Torches flickered like they were scared. Even the wolves were silent, and that never happens. When wolves go silent, something either very holy or very stupid is about to happen. This dawn felt like both.

Lucian stood at the base of the altar, breathing hard, chest rising and falling like he sprinted from the ends of the world to get here. He probably did.

The relic fragments inside my ceremonial belt buzzed against my ribs like angry bees. There were four pieces: the Luna Crest, the Alpha Fang, the Blood Chalice shard, and the Goddess Tear all gathered in the palace of Dravenmoor. Each warm. Each is dangerous. Together, apparently, they were either going to fix everything or destroy everything. Comforting.

Lucian stared at me with fury and panic in his eyes. His voice came out hoarse. 

“Keira. I-I think we should stop this.”

I pretended not to hear him because if I looked directly at his heartbreak I might malfunction. So instead I began walking up the stairs. Determined. Dramatic. Possibly stupid. The usual.

Lucian reached for my wrist. His hand wrapped around it, warm and shaking.

“Please. You look unwell, I cannot lose you again. I cannot.”

My throat closed. I forced myself to face him. I expected to see the fearsome Alpha of Dravenmoor, the terrifying man who turned armies into dust. Instead he looked like someone holding on to hope by one thread. His eyes shimmered like he might break before I did.

I whispered, “I am doing this because I refuse to lose you.”

That shut him up. Good. One rare victory for me.

I lifted my left palm and murmured the activation words Elindor the fae taught me. The runes carved onto the stone lit up. Cold wind whipped my nightgown around my legs. The moon trembled overhead like it was waiting.

Lucian grabbed both my shoulders. “Keira stop. If the relic chooses you, it will consume you. Not even a goddess survives that kind of power.”

I laughed very quietly, the type of laugh people make right before they cry or commit arson. “Lucian, I survived being transmigrated into a novel I did not even finish reading. I think I can handle this.”

His face did that expression where he wanted to argue but also remembered that my logic was insane enough to be true.

The altar began to pulse. The air buzzed in my ears like a swarm.

Lucian’s voice dropped to a whisper that sounded like a prayer. “Do not do this. If the curse lifts, I lose you. Dravenmoor may live, but I lose you.”

I cupped his cheek. He leaned into the touch like it hurt to accept it. “Not lose me. Live with me.”

Before he could argue again, I stepped back and pulled the relic pieces from their hiding places. They floated into the air around me, glowing like four small suns. The ground rumbled under my feet. The runes grew so bright I could hardly see.

Lucian swore loudly, then lunged toward me like a man ready to fight fate head on. The magic threw him back. He slammed to his knees but refused to stay down. He fought the invisible barrier with claws and teeth, eyes blazing crimson. A trapped beast refusing surrender.

“Let me in. Let me stand with her.”

The barrier only buzzed harder.

The altar responded to my heartbeat. The wind tasted like lightning. My pulse felt like a war drum.

I lifted my voice, though I did not remember choosing the words.

“Moon above us, hear me
Blood before us, follow me
Fate around us, obey me
Cycle behind us, break”

The relics fused into a single white inferno. The wind howled like a choir. My body jerked backward as power poured through every bone.

Lucian roared from inside the barrier, voice cracking. “K-Keira!”

He slammed again and again. Claws bled. Shoulders shook. He was breaking himself, not the shield.

I felt myself rising from the altar. My feet left the ground. The energy twisted around me like a cyclone. My skin glowed so bright it looked like it might tear apart. I could barely breathe but I kept speaking.

“The curse ends with me
Not with blood
Not with death
But with choice”

The energy slammed through me. A thousand memories not mine tore across my mind. The moon goddess. Aria. Lucian. Agony through centuries. Rebirths. Deaths. Sacrifices. Vows. Love. Loss. Repetition. Again and again and again until insanity was normal.

I was drowning in time.

Somewhere far away, I heard Lucian scream, “Please. Please. I cannot lose you again.”

I reached through the storm with a whisper only he could hear. “Then stand with me instead of stopping me.”

The altar responded.

The barrier shattered.

Lucian launched forward. Not to stop me. To hold me.

The magic grabbed him too. He wrapped his arms around my body, pulling me tight to his chest. I felt his heartbeat slam against my back. His forehead pressed to my neck.

“If this kills us,” he whispered, “I will die with you.”

I whispered back, “It will not.”

It hurt. Everything hurt. The power ripped through us like a solar explosion. My vision turned white. My chest felt like it was splitting open. I dug my nails into Lucian’s arms. He gasped and held tighter.

The relic ignited with blinding light.

Something snapped.

Not a sound but a feeling. Like a chain breaking. Like a scream being released. Like a wound finally closing.

Lucian cried out. It sounded like pain and salvation all at once.

The moon split the sky open. Literally. A beam of white crashed down and swallowed the altar. For a heartbeat I felt everything alive in the world pulse together.

And then it stopped.

The wind died instantly. The light vanished. The world turned silent.

Lucian slumped to his knees with me still in his arms. We were both shaking. My limbs felt like stone. His breath came in ragged gasps against my shoulder.

The curse was gone. I felt it like a weight ripped from my soul. Dravenmoor was finally free.

Lucian’s voice was weak, almost broken. “Keira. Are you here?”

I nodded because speaking was impossible. He squeezed me closer in relief and exhaustion.

My vision blurred. My body collapsed completely against him.

We dropped onto the altar floor together.

The last thing I felt was Lucian’s hand wrapped around mine, refusing to let go even when the world faded.

My eyes closed.

The mountains breathed.

The dawn did not wane.