Chapter 143: The Divine Reckoning
Chapter 143: The Divine Reckoning
Chapter 143: The Divine Reckoning
Melissa’s POV
The wind screamed as though it were alive.
With heavenly light emanating from my palms, I stood in the middle of the Forgotten Realm. Energy crackled in the air around me, and my body surged so powerfully that I thought I might blow up.
Everything was painful.
Everything shook.
I was more than Melissa now. Not just that girl who got turned down once. Not only the mate of the Alpha. I was more than that. Something... horrifying.
But that authority also came with a decision.
I could put an end to all suffering. Put an end to all dangers. Burn all the shadows away.
Or...
I could pardon. Rebuild. Make a new beginning, even if it means giving people who have wronged me another chance.
I heard a voice in my head.
"Mercy is weakness."
Then there was another voice.
"Mercy is strength."
I have two sides that tug in separate directions.
I saw the face of Damon.
Darius's.
Even the goddess herself, her eyes impenetrable, eyeing me.
I balled my fists up.
Justice was what I wanted. Peace was what I desired.
However, I was unsure of how to give both.
The sky above me started to twist, turning red and gold as my power grew stronger by the moment.
I had to make a choice.
And shortly.
There was a flash of lightning in the sky, but it wasn't lightning. Sharp and white like the brightest flame, it was a celestial force. It shook the trees and cracked the ground as it hit the area surrounding me.
There was a problem.
Too much authority.
It's too light.
A storm in the sky.
I was causing the realms' fundamental fabric to split apart.
I gasped and dropped to my knees.
"Kane!" I let out a yell.
Even if he could hear me over the world was unknown to me.
However, he was present.
His chest rose and fell as he pushed through the fog, as if he had run for miles.
"Melissa!" he exclaimed. "You must stop! You're destroying everything!
With my hands shaking, I looked at him. "I didn't intend to. I—I have no control over it.
His warm hands cupped my face as he fell on his knees in front of me. "You can, indeed. You are more powerful than this.
"I'm afraid," I said. "What happens if I lose myself once more?"
"You won't," he said. "Because you're not by yourself."
The realm was illuminated by another burst of holy energy that ripped through the heavens.
He drew me in. You are more than a goddess. My companion is you. My Melissa.
My cheeks began to well up with tears.
I wanted to think he was real.
I had to trust him.
However, the storm didn't give a damn about how I felt. It roared louder and more hungry.
As we made our way to the altar, Kane held my hand. My bones were vibrating from the intensity of the energy. It was a struggle at every turn.
Fire streamed down in gold and white streaks as the skies roared once more.
"I sense it intensifying," I informed him. "There's a big thing coming."
He gave a nod. "I sense it too."
Below us, the earth splintered, glowed from within. Ash replaced the flowers. Trees broke and bowed. My presence was undoing this reality, the one that had not been touched by time.
"I never requested this," I uttered in a low voice. "I had no desire to become a powerful or heavenly being. All I wanted was serenity.
"I understand," Kane said. But you were chosen by fate. You must now decide how to respond.
I looked up at the bright sky.
I said, "I could put an end to it all." "Enough pain. No more suffering.
"You might," he concurred. "But who would be left to love you if you did?"
My heart was pierced by the inquiry.
He was always able to say the proper thing.
I said, "I don't want to be worshipped." "I wish I were human."
He gave a soft smile. "Then continue to be human."
However, the sky changed rapidly once more as I started to quiet the storm.
Another type of light emerged.
Not divine.
Not gloomy.
Something very different.
The heavens were ripped open by the golden light.
The atmosphere changed.
Instinctively, Kane moved ahead of me to keep me safe.
"What's that?" he inquired.
"I'm not sure," I replied.
However, I sensed it.
There was movement.
The light was too steady to be warm. Too quiet. It made me think of the time just before a storm hits. The scream was preceded by the breath.
Then—
The sky took on a shape.
No shadow.
No god.
But anything that had a pure light pulse.
A number.
Tall and radiant. Observing us.
A voice spoke into my ears, old and gentle yet loud enough to shut out the world.
"The balance must be paid."
I took hold of Kane's arm as I gasped.
With caution, he said, "Melissa." "What is that?"
"I'm not sure." I backed away and murmured.
There was no movement from the figure in the sky.
However, the surrounding light flickered.
The voice continued, "The reckoning is not the end." "This is just the start."
Then—
Boom.
The heavens broke with a crack, and the light burst forth.
I was pulled down by Kane, who used his body to protect me.
The sky was empty when I looked up again.
However, something had come into our world.
Something else than gloom.
However...
Never in my life have I been so terrified.
My name reverberated throughout the realm, uttered simultaneously by a thousand voices.
"Elissa..."
The stone was blazing crimson now, and I turned to face the altar.
My name was different.
The words "Melissa, Luna" were no longer visible.
Now, gleaming in new light, it said:
"The Herald of Reckoning, Melissa."
My heart was racing.
Since I didn't know what that meant.
However, whatever was coming...
It was just getting started.