Chapter 88 Kael POV

Chapter 88 Kael POV

The convoy turns off the main road just before sunrise. Three armored SUVs follow the narrow service route leading toward the eastern ridge, headlights dimmed as much as possible without driving blind. Behind us, two transport vehicles carry Moonstone warriors and Elaris soldiers. Radios crackle quietly through the dashboard while scouts report from positions farther ahead. The watchtower does not appear on the horizon yet. That is exactly why Ashwood chose it.

The old station sits on the highest point of the eastern ridge, surrounded by dense forest and steep terrain. Before Moonstone disappeared, it served as both a lookout point and a communications relay. According to the original territory maps, the main structure contains an observation level, radio room, equipment storage, two stairwells, and access to an underground maintenance corridor. Ashwood reinforced it after taking the land. They added steel fencing, cameras, motion sensors, generators, and several smaller security buildings around the base.

Silas chose the location for its defensive value. Idris chose it because everyone can see the banner from the valley below. Elowyn sits beside me in the front passenger seat, dressed in dark tactical clothing with her hair secured away from her face. She has barely spoken since we left the settlement. Her mother’s pendant rests beneath her shirt. I know because she has touched the place where it hangs at least four times since we started driving. Callum and Elara ride in the second vehicle with Tavian and several Moonstone warriors. I wanted Elowyn in the vehicle with her parents. She refused and that argument lasted less than thirty seconds. I have learned that my resistance just wastes time. A scout’s voice comes through the radio.

“Lead vehicle, we’re approaching the final turn before the ridge.”

I lift the handheld radio from the center console.

“Any movement?”

“Nothing on the road. There are cameras near the lower gate. We found two sentries along the western tree line.”

“Have they seen you?”

“Negative.”

“Hold position.”

“Understood.”

I place the radio back into its cradle. Elowyn looks toward me.

“How many?”

“Two visible sentries, but that does not mean only two.”

She nods and looks back through the windshield. The road ahead becomes steeper. Broken pavement gives way to patched asphalt where Ashwood repaired sections just enough to keep vehicles moving. Several branches have been cut recently along the shoulders. They expected to use this route. They may also expect us to use it. I slow the SUV.

“Possible trap ahead,” I say into the radio. The vehicles behind us and spread out immediately, increasing the distance between each one. Elowyn reaches toward the weapon secured at her side. I glance at her. “You stay behind cover until we know what they planted.” Her eyes narrow.

“I understand basic survival.”

“Your history suggests otherwise.”

“I survived all of it.”

“That is really not the argument you think it is.”

She gives me a look that promises this conversation will return later. Good. Later means she survives long enough to be angry.

The first scout appears from the trees a few hundred feet ahead. He raises one hand, signaling us to stop. I park near the side of the road and cut the engine. The moment I step out, cold morning air hits my face. The forest around us is still dark beneath the canopy, though pale light has started creeping across the sky beyond the ridge. Callum’s SUV stops behind ours. He gets out before the driver fully shuts off the engine. Elara follows him, checking the radio clipped to her vest. The lead team gathers near the front of my vehicle. The scout crouches and points toward the road.

“Pressure wire.”

Thin metal runs between two trees at ankle height before disappearing into brush on the opposite side. Callum studies it.

“Explosive?”

“Likely attached to fuel charges beneath the drainage culvert.”

I look farther up the road.

“How wide is the trigger area?”

“We haven’t cleared all of it yet.”

Callum turns toward Tavian.

“Take two teams through the western forest. Stay above the road.”

Tavian nods.

“I’ll have the eastern side checked,” I say.

Elowyn steps forward.

“I can sense if there’s magic attached to any of it.”

Callum looks toward her.

“Ashwood is using weapons, not witches.”

“They worked with Morvena for years. Silas may have kept more than information.”

That stops everyone. She is right. I hate that she is right.

“From behind the vehicle,” I tell her and she opens her mouth to argue, but I stop her with a firm point toward the SUV. “Elowyn.”

“Fine.” She moves back, irritation in every step, then closes her eyes and lifts one hand. No silver marks appear. No visible magic crawls over her skin. The air simply changes. Pressure builds around us, subtle enough that several soldiers glance around without understanding why. Elowyn turns her palm slowly toward the road. Her brows draw together. “There is something near the culvert.”

The scout looks at her.

“Explosives?”

“No. It's like... a warning spell?”

Callum’s expression hardens.

“What kind?”

“Something tied to movement.” Her eyes remain closed. “If the wire breaks, whoever set it will know.”

Of course. This is not only a trap. It is an alarm. I lift my radio.

“All units, maintain position. No one crosses the road.”

The scout begins working carefully around the wire while Elowyn directs him toward the source of the magic. After several minutes, he uncovers a small metal box hidden beneath leaves near the drainage opening. A dark crystal sits inside it, wrapped with copper wire and connected to the physical trigger. Elowyn crouches behind the SUV’s front wheel, keeping her attention fixed on it.

“I can disable the magical signal.”

“Can you do it without triggering the explosives?” I ask.

“The spell and the charges are separate.”

Callum looks toward the scout.

“And the physical device?”

“I can disarm it once the spell is dead.”

Elowyn presses her hand against the pavement. A quiet pulse moves through the ground. The crystal inside the box cracks. No explosion. No warning signal. The scout releases a slow breath and begins cutting wires. Callum looks toward me.

“They expected the road.”

“They probably expect the forest too.”

“Then we stop giving them what they expect.”

We leave the vehicles half a mile below the ridge. The drivers reverse them into defensive positions behind a bend in the road while two soldiers stay with each vehicle. The rest of us continue on foot through the western trees. Elowyn stays between Callum and me. She hates it and I do not care. Elara moves beside Tavian several yards behind us, her focus shifting constantly between the trees and the slope ahead. The ground becomes steeper as we climb. Fallen branches and loose stones make movement slower than I want, but the forest gives us cover from the cameras positioned along the road. A Moonstone scout returns from farther ahead.

“Lower gate is visible.”

“How many guards?” Callum asks.

“Six outside. At least four more moving between the security buildings.”

I glance toward the ridge through the trees.

“Vehicles?”

“Seven. Two transport trucks. Three SUVs. Two smaller patrol vehicles.”

Far fewer than Idris should have. Silas gathered every warrior still answering their call, yet the number visible around the tower is barely enough to hold the perimeter. The rest may be inside or they never came. Callum reaches the same conclusion.

“He expected more.”

The scout nods.

“We counted thirty-two outside over the last hour. No sign of additional arrivals.”

Idris gathered thirty-eight at Northpoint and probably sent others to collect anyone still hiding. They may have fifty. Maybe sixty if every messenger succeeded. Moonstone and Elaris brought more than that and Ashwood knows it. That means the tower is not meant to be held. It is meant to hurt us before they leave. I look toward Elowyn.

“Stay alert for more magical alarms.”

“I am.”

Callum signals for the western team to advance. We move through the trees until the tower finally comes into view. The main structure is four stories of reinforced concrete built directly into the ridge. Narrow windows line the upper levels. Antennas rise from the roof beside older communications equipment. Portable generators sit behind protective barriers near the southern wall.

Steel fencing surrounds the compound. Ashwood banners hang from the tower and lower gate. The fabric moves in the early morning wind. From this angle, I can see the damage where the original Moonstone crest once sat above the main entrance. They carved it away. Callum sees it too and his face goes still. Elara touches his arm once. He does not look away from the tower. A guard moves along the fence line carrying a rifle. Another stands near one of the patrol vehicles with binoculars. No civilians. Good. Everyone here chose this. I motion for the Elaris captain to move closer.

“We split the perimeter. Your teams take the southern fence and vehicle yard. Moonstone circles west and takes the security buildings.”

“And the tower entrance?” he asks.

“Callum and I handle it once the outer defenses fall.”

Elowyn looks toward me.

“And me?”

“You stay with Elara behind the second line.”

“No.”

Callum turns toward her.

“Sapphira.”

“I can disable whatever Silas and Idris left inside that building.”

“We do not know what is inside,” he says.

“That is exactly why I should be close enough to sense it.”

Elara studies the tower.

“She stays with me until the gate is secure.” I look at her and Elara meets my gaze steadily. “She will not enter the compound before the perimeter falls.”

Elowyn looks irritated, which means she recognizes the compromise.

“Fine.”

Callum exhales through his nose. I suspect he dislikes this almost as much as I do. A radio message comes through my earpiece.

“Movement on the observation level.”

I look toward the highest windows. Two figures stand behind reinforced glass. Too far away to identify clearly. Still, I know it's Idris and Silas. Watching and waiting to see how we approach. They want us to see them. I step farther into the shadow of the trees.

“Eastern team in position?” I ask.

“Ready.”

“Southern team?”

“Ready.”

“Moonstone west?”

Callum touches his earpiece.

“Everyone ready?”

“Ready, Alpha.”

Callum looks at me. The old tension between Moonstone and Elaris has no place here. Not today. Today we want the same thing. I raise my radio.

“Advance on my signal.”

A second figure joins Idris behind the glass. Older and still. Silas. They stand together at the top of a tower built on land they helped steal. Below them, their remaining warriors hold rifles and watch the trees. The sun finally clears the ridge behind the building, throwing long shadows across the compound. For one moment, everything pauses then a single shot cracks through the forest. The bullet hits the tree inches from my head.

“They spotted movement!” someone shouts through the radio.

So much for the element of surprise. Gunfire erupts from the western fence. Moonstone warriors scatter behind trees and stone barriers as rounds tear through branches around them. The Elaris captain orders his teams forward. Soldiers return fire from the southern slope. Callum shifts beside me. His massive black wolf surges through the trees before the next burst reaches us. Tavian and several Moonstone warriors shift with him, using the forest for cover as they rush the western security building. I move toward the lower wall with three Elaris soldiers behind me.

“Elowyn, stay back!”

“I heard you!”

A blast rocks the eastern side of the compound. The ground jumps beneath my boots. Smoke rises beyond the fence.

“They triggered their own charge,” the captain says through my earpiece.

No. Silas triggered it. He is controlling the battlefield from inside. A second explosion tears through the service road below us, blocking the route back to the vehicles with shattered pavement and burning debris. My jaw tightens. They are not trying to keep us out. They are trying to trap us on the ridge. Another round strikes the concrete barrier ahead. I drop behind it and return fire toward a guard position near the gate. The guard disappears from view. Callum reaches the western fence in wolf form and crashes through a weakened section with enough force to rip metal posts from the ground. Moonstone warriors flood through behind him. The outer compound erupts into chaos. Ashwood warriors shift. Others continue firing from the security buildings. Elaris soldiers breach the southern entrance. Elowyn’s voice comes through my earpiece.

“Kael, the tower is carrying magic.”

I press closer to the barrier.

“What kind?”

“I can’t tell yet. It is spread through the structure.”

Silas prepared more than explosives. Of course he did.

“Do not approach it.”

“If it activates while you’re inside, I need to be close enough to stop it.”

“Elowyn.”

A shot cracks against the barrier. I fire back and her voice hardens.

“You brought me because I can help. Let me help.”

I hate every word of that sentence.

“Stay with Elara. Do not enter until I clear the lower level.”

“I can do that.”

A movement above catches my attention. Idris is still standing behind the observation window. Gunfire flashes around the compound. Warriors fall. Smoke spreads between the buildings and he stands there watching as if this is exactly what he wanted. Silas appears beside him again then both figures step away from the glass.

“They’re moving,” I say into the radio.

Callum shifts back near the gate, blood streaking one shoulder.

“Inside?”

“Likely.”

He looks toward the tower entrance. The steel doors remain closed. Ashwood warriors are already retreating toward it from the security buildings. They are giving up the perimeter faster than expected. That confirms it. The real fight is inside. One of the Elaris soldiers reaches the gate controls and kills power to the locking system. The gates grind halfway open before stopping. Callum grabs the metal and forces it wider. I move through first with the captain behind me. The remaining Ashwood warriors fall back toward the main building. Some fire while moving. Others shift and charge. Callum meets the first one head-on. I hear Elowyn’s voice through the radio again.

“The magic is getting stronger.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know.”

The tower doors finally open. Not from our side, but from inside. Jarek steps into view with a rifle in one hand and blood across his face. Behind him, dozens of Ashwood warriors fill the lower hall. He smiles.

“Welcome home.”

Then every light in the tower turns red. An alarm begins screaming from inside the building. The steel gate behind us slams shut. Callum looks toward me. I look up at the observation windows where Idris and Silas disappeared. They expected us. They built this entire defense around getting Moonstone and Elaris through the front gate. Jarek raises his weapon and I lift mine.

The final battle for Moonstone has already begun.