Chapter 140 The First Ball
Elara's POV
I burned Morgana's letter and didn't sleep all night.
"Cousin." The word haunted me. We were family. Distant, twisted family. And she was coming tonight with something worse than the Void Walker.
"You look exhausted," Drakon said at dawn, finding me on the balcony.
"Morgana sent a threat. She's attacking tonight during the ball."
His eyes flashed gold. "Then we cancel it."
"No." I stood firm. "That's what she wants. Fear winning over unity. We proceed as planned. But we prepare for war disguised as celebration."
By evening, the castle gleamed with decorations. Magical lights floated everywhere. Musicians tuned instruments. Tables overflowed with food from every kingdom.
And hidden throughout, warriors stood ready. Mages disguised as servants. Dragons in human form pretending to be guests. We'd turned the ball into a trap.
If Morgana attacked, we'd be ready.
Guests arrived by the hundreds. Merfolk in wheeled water tanks. Werewolves in formal clothes. Griffins who'd shifted human. Phoenix clan members whose hair literally flickered with flame. Ice faeries like Faye. Humans from every kingdom.
Even Queen Thalassa came, her tail transformed to legs for the evening.
"Impressive," she said, surveying the crowd. "A year ago, half these people would have killed each other on sight."
"Now they're dancing together," I said, watching a werewolf teaching a human woman to waltz.
The ball officially began. Music filled the air. People danced and laughed and talked. Former enemies sharing wine. Different species finding common ground.
"This is what we fought for," Drakon murmured, holding me close during a slow dance. "This moment right here."
I wanted to enjoy it. To celebrate. But I kept scanning the crowd for threats.
Where was Morgana? What was she planning?
Lily twirled past with a young dragon shifter, both laughing. Mother danced with one of our advisors. Thorne and Faye swayed together, looking adorably in love.
Everything was perfect.
Too perfect.
"Something's wrong," I whispered to Drakon. "She should have attacked by now."
"Maybe the letter was just meant to scare you. Make you paranoid."
Maybe. But my instincts screamed danger.
Then I saw him.
A server carrying wine glasses. Nothing unusual, except he moved wrong. Too stiff. Too focused.
And he was heading straight for the merfolk delegation.
"That server," I grabbed Drakon's arm. "Something's off."
Drakon looked. His eyes narrowed. "That's not one of our people."
The server reached Queen Thalassa's group. Offered wine.
I ran.
"Don't drink that!" I screamed.
Too late. Three merfolk had already sipped.
They collapsed immediately, gasping. Their skin turned gray. Gills stopped moving.
"Poison!" someone yelled.
The server dropped his tray and ran. Drakon shifted and blocked his escape.
But the man pulled out a knife. Not a normal knife. This one glowed with void energy.
"For the Void!" he screamed and stabbed himself.
"No!" I threw ice at him, trying to stop it.
The knife hit his chest. He exploded.
Not into blood. Into darkness. Pure void corruption spreading like smoke.
Everyone screamed and ran. The smoke touched people, and they started changing. Eyes turning red. Skin going pale.
"It's contagious!" Faye yelled. "The void corruption is spreading through contact!"
Panic erupted. The beautiful ball turned to chaos in seconds.
"Lily!" I found my sister. "We need the sealing magic! Now!"
"It's not ready! We haven't finished the ritual preparations!"
"Then we improvise!"
We joined hands. Mother ran over and completed our circle.
"Channel everything," Mother instructed. "All your power. All your love for these people. All your determination to protect them."
We did.
Rainbow light exploded from our joined hands. The ancient Moonstone runes appeared, spreading across the ballroom floor.
The void smoke hit the runes and stopped. Contained.
"It's working!" Lily gasped.
But we were weakening fast. Too much power, too quickly.
"We can't hold it!" I felt my magic draining.
Then others joined us. Drakon, shifting human, took my free hand. Thorne grabbed Lily's. Faye held Mother's.
More people added to the circle. Werewolves, merfolk, humans, dragons. All species. All former enemies.
Together, we pushed back the void corruption. Cleansed it. Healed the infected people.
The smoke dissipated. The danger passed.
We collapsed, exhausted but victorious.
"Did we win?" I gasped.
"You did," a cold voice answered.
I looked up.
Morgana stood in the ballroom entrance. But she looked different. Half-void, half-human. Flickering between solid and shadow.
"Congratulations on saving everyone. Very heroic." She smiled cruelly. "Which is exactly what I wanted."
"What?" Drakon struggled to his feet.
"You just used all your power. Every drop. You're completely drained." Morgana's form solidified. "And now you're defenseless."
She was right. I had nothing left. No magic. No strength.
"That poison was the distraction," Morgana continued. "The real attack is this."
She snapped her fingers.
The entire ballroom shook. Windows shattered. The floor cracked.
And through every crack, void corruption poured in. Not smoke this time. Solid creatures. Hundreds of them.
"I didn't come to attack during your ball," Morgana laughed. "I came to use your ball as a sacrifice. All these people. All these species. All gathered in one place. Perfect void-food."
The creatures surrounded us. Trapped.
We had no power left to fight them.
"Any last words, cousin?" Morgana asked.
Then something unexpected happened.
The guests we'd saved stood up. Surrounded us protectively.
"You want them?" Queen Thalassa said, her voice steady despite her weakness. "You go through us."
"All of us," a werewolf alpha added.
"Every single one," a human lord agreed.
Every person at the ball formed a wall between us and the void creatures. Hundreds of people. Different species. Former enemies.
United.
"How touching," Morgana sneered. "But they're exhausted too. They can't fight."
"We don't need to fight," Thalassa said. "We just need to give them time."
"Time for what?"
A massive roar echoed outside. Then another. And another.
Dragons. Dozens of them. Flying toward the castle.
"I sent word the moment the first attack happened," Thorne said, grinning despite his exhaustion. "Called for reinforcements. Every dragon within flight distance."
The wall exploded inward.
Twenty adult dragons burst into the ballroom, breathing fire and ice.
But they weren't attacking the void creatures.
They were attacking Morgana.
She shrieked and tried to shadow-shift away.
One dragon grabbed her. Another breathed frost, freezing her solid.
"No!" she screamed. "I had you! I won!"
"You forgot one thing," I said, finding my voice. "Unity means we're never really alone. Help is always coming."
The dragons dragged Morgana away, still frozen.
The void creatures, without her control, dissolved into nothing.
Silence fell over the ruined ballroom.
Then someone started clapping.
A stranger stepped through the broken wall. Female. Young. Dressed in clothes I'd never seen before.
"Bravo," she said. "Truly impressive. Morgana was always too dramatic. Too obvious."
"Who are you?" Drakon demanded.
"Oh, I think you know." The woman smiled. "After all, you've been fighting my servants all this time. The Void Walker. Queen Morgana. Even that plague was mine."
My blood turned to ice.
"I am the Void Empress," she said. "The original consciousness. The mother of emptiness. And unlike my failed servants, I don't make mistakes."
She raised her hand.
Every person who'd been touched by the void smoke earlier, even the ones we'd healed suddenly collapsed.
Their eyes opened. Glowing red.
"I didn't poison them to kill them," the Void Empress said. "I poisoned them to claim them. They're mine now. Sleeper agents in your precious unity."
She looked directly at me.
"And the best part? One of them is someone you love. Someone close. Someone you trust completely. But you don't know who."
She vanished.
The corrupted people stood up. Smiled. Acted normal.
But one of them was still void-touched. Still controlled.
I looked around at everyone I loved.
Drakon. Lily. Mother. Faye. Thorne. Thalassa. Our advisors. Our friends.
One of them was a traitor.
And I had no idea which one.