Chapter 86: Eighty Six

WALTER’S POV

I land hard on the ground beside Lila’s trembling form, my bad leg twisting beneath me with a crack that sends white-hot pain shooting up my spine.

I cry out, rolling onto my back as the creature looms over us, its shadow hand clawing toward where the silver dagger should have been.

“Walter,” Lila whispers, her hand finding mine in the dirt. Her fingers are cold, but I feel the faint warmth of her magic flowing between us, even though it's fragile, it's still there.

“I’m scared.”

I squeeze her hand, pushing myself up despite the agony in my leg.

“Me too,” I say honestly. “But we’re not alone. Never forget that.”

The creature laughs, a sound like wind through empty graves.

“Alone? You’ve been alone your whole life, Walter Fairmoon. Hiding behind your title, your pride and your broken body. You pushed everyone away because you were afraid to be weak and now, your weakness has let them escape with everything we needed to stop this.”

It raises its claw higher, and green light seeps from its fingertips, sending shards of darkness across the courtyard.

The shadow creatures press closer, their breath hot and foul against my skin. I can see Draven and Nora’s figures disappearing into the treeline, running fast even as the ground shakes beneath them.

“Look at them,” the creature says, nodding toward the woods.

“They wanted power so badly they’d let the world burn to get it and you... you wanted control so badly you let hatred poison your heart.

"The Star Born here… she wanted love so badly she couldn’t see the betrayal standing right beside her. You’re all the same. All broken and all mine.”

I look past the creature to where Mirabel and Caelum are standing side by side with Elara standing besides them.

“We’re not broken,” I say, my voice steady despite the sweat pouring down my face. “We’re wolves and we’re people and people make mistakes. The difference between us and them is that we’ll stay and fix what’s been broken.”

The creature tilts its head, and Lila’s face contorts in confusion.

“Fix them? How? With apologies? With promises? They’ve taken the only weapon that could stop me. The damage is done. The land is poisoned. The packs are divided. There’s nothing left to fix.”

I pull Lila to her feet, keeping my arm around her waist to steady us both. Her golden light is growing brighter again, responding to my words, to the strength I’m trying to find in myself. “You’re wrong,” I say.

“The land isn’t just dirt and stone. It’s us. Every wolf, every human and every living thing that calls it home. And as long as there’s life, there’s hope, even if we have to build it from scratch.”

I look toward the treeline where Draven and Nora fled, my jaw tightening with resolve. “Even them,” I add quietly.

“Even people who’ve done terrible things can be stopped. If we’re willing to hunt them down.”

Caelum shouts from across the grounds, driving his sword through a stone wolf’s chest.

“Walter! They’ve got the dagger which will help them be able to control the darkness now! We have to go after them before it’s too late!”

I look past the creature to where Mirabel is already rolling up the scroll and Elara is gathering the shattered mirror pieces, but all I can focus on, are the shadow creatures pressing closer and they're too many to fight and chase our enemies at the same time.

The creature roars in anger, its form shifting and twisting as it senses our distraction. “You can't stop them.” it snarls.

“They’re already halfway to the Ironclaw lands. By the time you reach them, they’ll have already awakened powers you can’t even imagine.”

But before it can strike, the silver-haired woman pushes herself up from where the shadow creatures had dragged her down, her silver light flaring bright despite her wounds.

“They may have the dagger,” she calls out, her voice carrying across the chaos. “But they don’t understand what it truly is. It binds as much as it gives power and surely, they’ll be consumed by it if they’re not careful.”

She raises her hands, and silver light weaves through the air, forming a protective barrier around us as the shadow creatures surge forward. I feel Lila’s power surge through me, causing the pain in my leg to fade, replaced by a warmth.  I look down to see golden light weaving through my veins, mending the old break in my leg, sealing the wounds on my body.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered suddenly.

“For everything.”

She smiles,,  “I know,” she says softly. “And I forgive you. We all make mistakes. The trick is to learn from them and to make sure we don’t let them happen again.”

We step forward together, our hands joined, our power merging into a single stream of golden light that flows across the courtyard. The silver-haired woman joins her magic with ours. Mirabel, Caelum and Elara move to stand beside us, their weapons raised high as they channel their strength into the light.

The golden light washes over the courtyard, pushing back the darkness, healing the poisoned ground, bringing life back to the withered plants around the well. The shadow creature howls in rage and pain, its form beginning to dissolve into smoke and sparkles of light.

But it’s not giving, it sends a wave of darkness toward the treeline, fueling Draven and Nora’s flight, making them faster, stronger, more dangerous than ever before.

I let go of Lila’s hand and dive forward and  grabbed a fallen sword from the ground, rolling to the side and coming to my feet in one fluid motion.

The creature turns its full attention to me, its form twisting and shifting as it prepares to strike.

“You can’t win,” it snarls. “Even with her light coursing through your veins, you’re still broken. A cripple playing hero while the real threat runs free.”

I circle the creature, my grip tight on the sword.

“Broken doesn’t mean weak,” I say. “You’d know that if you were really me.”

The creature laughs, then Its form ripples and changes, shifting from my exact likeness to something more monstrous, it's taller and leaner, now with claws that gleam like obsidian and eyes that burn with sickly green fire.

“I am what you could be,” it roars, lunging forward with blinding speed.

“Strong. Whole. And unburdened by guilt or love or any of the weakness that makes you let your enemies escape.”

I barely manage to raise the sword in time. The creature’s claw crashes against the blade with a shower of sparks and the impact sends me stumbling backward, my bad leg buckling under the force. I catch myself against the edge of the Moon Well, my hand finding stability on the cold stone as water sloshes over my fingers.

From behind me, I hear Lila cry out. I risk a glance over my shoulder to see her form flickering aga,the golden light is flaking off as the last of the shadow creatures pull her closer to the well’s surface.

In the distance, I can see Draven and Nora’s figures growing smaller as they disappear into the deep woods, the silver dagger glinting one last time in the sunlight before vanishing from sight.

“Walter!” Caelum shouts from across the grounds.  “We have to go after them! Before they reach the Ironclaw pack!”

I look toward the treeline where our enemies fled. In my mind’s eye, I can see them  and I know they’ll use the dagger’s power to build a stranger army that have never been seen to twist more wolves to their cause and then come back for everything we hold dear.

The creature uses my distraction to strike again. I spin back just in time to deflect its claw, but the force sends the sword flying from my grasp. It clatters across the stone, coming to rest just out of reach near the edge of the cracking ground.

The creature looms over me, its green eyes glowing brighter as it raises its hand. “See?” it sneers.

“You can’t even hold onto what little power you have. You’re nothing but a liability to everyone you claim to protect and now your enemies are free to destroy everything you love.”

I look from the creature to the empty treeline to Lila, her light now so faint I can barely make out her shape.

The darkness is pulling her into the well, inch by inch, and I can feel our bond stretching thin.

I’m not going to catch them in time. I’m not going to stop them from building their army. I’m not going to be able to protect everyone forever.

The thought should break me. Instead, it steadies me.

I push myself up, ignoring the agony in my leg, and take a step forward. Then another. Each one sends white-hot pain shooting up my thigh, but I keep moving, my eyes locked on the creature’s face.

“You’re right,” I say, my voice clear and loud enough to carry over the chaos.

“I am broken. My leg might never be the same and maybe I'll never run as fast or fight as I used to. But you know what? I don’t care.”

The creature hesitates, its claw wavering in the air.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about strength that doesn’t come from power or perfection,” I continue, taking another step closer.

“I’m talking about what you can never understand.

I reach deep inside myself, past the pain and the doubt and the fear that’s haunted me for years.

I reach for the bond between Lila and me, the warm and the connection that’s been there even when I tried to pretend it wasn’t.

And I pull.