CHAPTER 181: The Return of True Balance Is Signaled by a Massive Storm
CHAPTER 181: The Return of True Balance Is Signaled by a Massive Storm
Heavy, strange clouds swirled in the sky above the combined worlds. The smell of iron, ozone, and something older, something primordial, was carried by winds that roared over rivers and mountains. It was a power gathering, not simply bad weather. Even history shuddered.
Selene, her silver hair whirling across her face, stood in a heavy mantle from the lofty balcony of the Eclipse Citadel. Rowan and Kael stood next to her, grim-faced, gazing at the approaching storm.
"It's on its way," Kael answered quietly. "The storm that will either balance or shatter the realms the storm that the ancient seers whispered about."
Eclipse and Celestial energy twisted and melded into the blade of Rowan's sword as his palm touched its hilt. "It's more than just a storm," he whispered softly. "It’s the final catalyst."
The combined armies of the three kingdoms, the Eclipse Sentinels, the Celestial Guard, and the recently unified Wild Packs, waited anxiously beneath them. With the former foes now standing arm to shoulder, banners broke in the fierce wind.
As a black and gold lightning bolt sliced across the sky, Selene squinted.
She said, "It's the storm of true balance." "And there will be a cost."
Massive, heavy rains dropped first, striking the ground like hammer strikes. Whispers emerged from the mist rising up from the stones, and the earth heated where they fell.
Beside him, a startling ripple in the air caused Rowan to spin abruptly. An elderly lady with braided hair laced with strands of moonlight emerged from behind the veil.
Selene gulped, "The Oracle of the Woven Stars,"
The Oracle's head bowed. "The moment is here. You need to assemble your heroes. The storm aims to test rather than to destroy. When the skies clear, only those deserving of balance will be left standing.
Under his breath, Kael said, "No pressure, then."
Selene's eyes met the Oracle's milky ones. "You have to help them get through it. Otherwise, everything will be gone.
Now closer, thunder cracked, rattling the world's very foundations.
Selene, Rowan, Kael, and their selected circle, their most ferocious fighters and astute counselors assembled in the Circle of Eclipse Stones in a matter of minutes.
Every stone served as a memorial to a previous conflict or setback. They would now be able to witness either salvation or destruction.
Selene raised her hand. "When the storm's heart reaches this circle," she said, "we bind ourselves to the fate of the new world."
"What's the alternative?" Kael inquired.
Rowan gave a somber response. "We die."
One of the stones was struck by lightning that forked down, breaking it into a thousand pieces.
They were on the verge of the storm.
Selene could feel its savage impartiality and fury pulsing through her bones. Who had battled for good or evil didn't matter to it. It was just concerned with equilibrium.
Kael moved uneasily. "We should be doing something."
"You are," the Oracle murmured, resurfacing among them like a puff of fog. "You are choosing to stand."
Banners and weaponry were raised off the ground by the higher howling winds. The soldiers brandished their shields, but they were up against their own imperfections and darkness, not an invading force.
Selene pulled out her sword and stabbed the ground with it. She shouted, "I claim balance," into the wind.
Rowan trailed behind with a powerful, harsh voice. "I claim renewal."
With a ferocious smile, Kael slammed his weapon down. "I claim survival!"
Around them, fighters knelt down and shouted their claims to the yelling storm as their guns were grounded.
Then the heavens tore apart.
There was no wall in the storm. It was a living thing.
Slowly descending from the ripped sky was a giant humanoid composed of nothing but swirling clouds, eyes like infinite emptiness, and glittering lightning for veins.
It communicated in a language that went straight to the soul, avoiding the ear.
"Balance must be earned."
"Balance must be proven."
As recollections of old betrayals, bleeding crowns, and broken pledges assaulted her consciousness, Selene stumbled back.
As images of all the ancestors tethered to his murky heritage appeared before him, Rowan gasped.
Facing the faces of his failed colleagues, the ones who had come under his leadership, Kael balled his fists.
The voice of the storm roared:
Every one of you has a wound. You have to either cure it or be wiped.
Selene felt a storm-cloud tendril reach out and touch her chest.
She was overcome with pain she had never experienced before. Her head blazed with images, and she fell to her knees.
Selene, Queen of the Eclipse Moon, was no longer she.
She was a kid once again, wailing for a mother who would never come back, alone, and abandoned under a blood-red sky.
The storm murmured, Heal it.
Selene closed her eyes tightly. "I've changed from that destitute girl. "I am the mother of the future!"
Blinding light burst from her chest.
The tendril pulled away.
Next was Rowan.
Visions of what he could have become what he still might become a despotic ruler, corrupted by the shadows of his heritage, reigning over ash and bone were shown to him by the storm.
Feeling the darkness tug at him, Rowan yelled against it.
"I am not them!" he screamed at them. "I choose my own fate!"
With a shiver, the storm let him go.
Kael's tendril came closer and he smiled. "Come on, then," he said in a whisper.
However, he did not see failure in the storm.
It made him feel lonely.
An elderly age spent without a pack, brothers, or heritage.
Kael's arrogant smile faltered. His expression showed genuine terror for the first time.
"No," he muttered. "I fought too long to end alone."
He knelt down and prayed in a whisper, not to the gods, but to his departed companions.
"I shall always remember you. You inhabit me.
His commitment was accepted by the storm.
The warriors faced the ordeal of the storm one by one.
A few didn't succeed.
Screaming, they vanished from the history of the new planet as they were engulfed by the mists.
Despite crying for them, Selene remained steadfast. This was the cost of equilibrium.
Only the worthy were left, broken and bloodied yet still alive.
The enormous storm creature held out its hands.
"You made a decision. You have persevered.
It gestured with a great finger to the united worlds on the other side of the mountain passes.
"Go now. Keep your planet safe.
A trail of interwoven light and shade extended ahead of them as the storm's heart opened.
Selene looked at Kael and Rowan. "This is it."
Hard-eyed, Rowan nodded. "We complete what we began."
Kael gave each of them a shoulder clap. "Let's fight for a world worth living."
They took a step onto the walkway.
One last shriek from the storm rocked the heavens themselves and then started to contract, constricting inward.
It was possible to achieve balance.
However, a sharp screech broke the silence as soon as Selene's foot hit the new threshold.
Something the storm had not destroyed rose from the shattered margins of the worlds.
An unbalanced creature:
wavy shadows,
altered light,
conflict never really won, according to the enduring hate of conflict.
Selene flinched. "It's not finished"
Beside them, the Oracle emerged, her expression stunned.
"That is the First Betrayer," she said somberly.
"And it has come to claim what remains."
Their connection to the other realm was severed as the monster swung, consuming the light route in its mouth before any of them could respond.
The earth gave way under their feet.
Kael, Rowan, and Selene plunged into the emptiness hurtling away from equilibrium.
but into an uncharted territory where nothing was certain.