Chapter 63 The Mother’s Wrath
"She is coming! Right now! She is not waiting!"
The scout burst into the medical tent where Mara was helping healers. Blood covered her hands. Exhaustion lined her face.
"What do you mean she is coming now? It has only been twelve hours since the last battle!"
"I know! But she is marching! With all her remaining children! And twice as many void creatures! They will be here within the hour!"
"That is impossible! Where did she get more creatures?"
"She made them! From our dead! From the void creatures we killed! She resurrected them all!"
Mara's blood ran cold. "Get everyone up. I do not care if they are injured. We need every fighter."
"But they are too hurt! They cannot—"
"They can and they will! Because if we do not fight, we all die! Now move!"
The camp exploded into activity. Wounded wolves forced themselves to stand. To pick up weapons. To prepare for another battle they were not ready for.
"This is suicide," Luna said. She had a bandage wrapped around her head. Blood still seeping through. "We barely survived the last fight. We cannot do this again."
"We do not have a choice."
"We could run. Evacuate. Live to fight another day."
"Where? Elara will chase us anywhere we go. Better to die here defending our home than die running like cowards."
"You call survival cowardice?"
"I call abandoning our people cowardice. These civilians cannot evacuate in an hour. If we run, we leave them to die. I will not do that. Will you?"
Luna was silent. Then she picked up her sword. "No. I will not. Let us make this bitch regret coming back."
The army assembled. Half of what they had before. Many wounded. All exhausted. But determined. Defiant. Unbroken.
Mara stood before them again. "Elara thinks we are weak! Thinks one battle broke us! Let us show her how wrong she is! Let us show her what happens when you threaten our home! Our families! Our future! We fight! And we do not stop fighting until she is dead or we are!"
The howls were weaker this time. Tired. But still fierce. Still full of rage.
The enemy appeared. Just as the scout said. Ten thousand void creatures now. Twice as many as before. Plus all of Elara's remaining children except the two who fled.
And at the front, Elara herself. Walking slowly. Confidently. Like she had already won.
"Mara!" her voice carried across the battlefield. "I am disappointed! I expected better from you! One little battle and you are already exhausted? Pathetic!"
"Come closer and say that!" Mara shouted back.
"Oh, I will. I will come very close. And I will whisper it in your ear as you die." Elara raised her hand. "Children! Show them what happens when mortals defy gods!"
The ten remaining children charged forward. Not waiting for the void army. Just attacking directly.
"Scatter!" Mara commanded. "Do not let them group up! Separate them!"
But the children were too coordinated. Too experienced. They moved as one unit. Covering each other. Supporting each other.
Sera threw dark magic. Dante moved with impossible speed. A new sister used fire that burned even stone. A brother manipulated earth, creating walls and traps. Another brother controlled wind, throwing wolves through the air.
"We cannot fight them all at once!" Zevran called. His black wolf form was already bleeding from multiple wounds.
"Then we do not fight fair!" Mara called to Kael. "Now! Do it now!"
Kael stepped forward. His red eyes blazed. "Sorry, siblings. Nothing personal."
He created the largest illusion yet. The battlefield multiplied. Suddenly there were five battlefields instead of one. Five copies of Mara's army.
"What?" Sera looked around confused. "Which is real?"
"Does it matter?" Dante asked. "We kill them all!"
The siblings split up. Each attacking a different illusion. Only two stayed with the real army. Sera and one brother Mara did not recognize.
"Better odds," Mara said. "Zevran, take the brother. I will handle Sera."
"Be careful. She is smart."
"So am I."
Mara charged at Sera. Golden light blazing around her fists. She threw punch after punch. Each one blocked. Countered. Redirected.
"You are strong," Sera admitted. "Stronger than yesterday. How?"
"I have help. Someone who believes in me. Someone you will never have."
"My siblings believe in me."
"Your siblings fear your mother. That is not the same as belief."
Sera's face darkened. "You know nothing about my family!"
"I know you are all slaves. Puppets. Elara controls you through fear and you pretend it is loyalty."
"Shut up!"
"Truth hurts, does it not?"
Sera screamed. Dark energy exploded from her body. Mara was thrown backward. Hit the ground hard.
Before she could get up, Sera was on top of her. Hands around her throat. "I am not a slave! I am not a puppet! I choose to follow Mother! I choose!"
"Then why are your hands shaking?"
Sera's grip loosened. Just for a second. Just enough.
Mara head-butted her. Sera fell backward. Mara scrambled up. Kicked her in the ribs. "If you choose to follow her, prove it! Kill me! Right now! Do what she wants!"
"I will!" Sera stood. Blood dripping from her nose. "I will kill you!"
But she hesitated. Did not attack. Just stood there. Conflicted.
"You cannot do it," Mara realized. "You want to. But you cannot. Because deep down, you know I am right. You know she is wrong. And killing me would make you just like her."
"You do not understand anything! Mother saved us! Created us! Gave us purpose!"
"She created weapons. Not children. Tools. Not family. And you know it."
"ENOUGH!"
Elara's voice cut across the battlefield like a knife. "Sera! Kill her or I kill you!"
Sera turned to her mother. "But—"
"No buts! Do it! Now!"
Sera looked between Mara and Elara. Between mercy and obedience. Between freedom and slavery.
Then she made her choice. She turned to Elara. "No."
"What did you say?"
"I said no. I will not kill her. I will not be your weapon anymore. I am done."
Elara's face twisted with rage. "You dare defy me? Your creator? Your goddess?"
"You are not a goddess. You are just a very old, very evil witch who needs to die."
"Then die with the Moon Wolf!" Elara raised both hands. Black energy gathered. Enough to destroy everything within a hundred feet.
She released it.
The energy shot toward Sera and Mara. There was no dodging. No blocking. Just death.
But then someone appeared between them. Kael.
"I am sorry, Mother. But this ends now."
He absorbed the blast. All of it. His body glowed. Cracked. Started to dissolve.
"No!" Sera ran to him. "Kael! You idiot! Why?"
"Because someone had to. Because you were right. She needs to lose." Kael's body was disintegrating. Fading. "Take care of our siblings. Help them see. Help them be free."
"I will. I promise."
"Good. Now run. Before she—"
He was gone. Just disappeared into nothing. Sacrificed himself to save his sister and Mara.
Elara stared at the empty space where her firstborn had stood. "He chose wrong. He chose you over me. After everything I gave him!"
"You gave him slavery!" Sera screamed. "You gave him pain! You gave him nothing but misery! And he still tried to love you! But you never loved him back! Never loved any of us!"
"Love is weakness!"
"Love is everything! And you will never understand that! That is why you will lose!" Sera turned to Mara. "I am with you now. Completely. Tell me what to do."
"Help me kill your mother."
"With pleasure."
They charged Elara together. Moon Wolf and rebellious daughter. Light and shadow working as one.
But Elara was too powerful. She blocked their attacks easily. Countered with devastating force. Threw them both backward.
"Pathetic! You think two of you can beat me? I am eternal! I am perfect! I am—"
An arrow hit her shoulder. Then another. Then five more.
Queen Adira stood on a building. Her cat warriors beside her. All firing arrows. "Talk less! Die more!"
Elara ripped the arrows out. "Insects! All of you!"
But the distraction was enough. Zevran attacked from behind. His jaws closed on her leg. Riven joined him. Then Luna. Then Brutus despite his wounds.
One by one, Mara's army swarmed Elara. Not giving her time to cast spells. Not giving her space to breathe.
"Get off me!" Elara screamed. She released a pulse of dark energy. Everyone was thrown back.
But Mara was ready. She had been gathering her power. Channeling Isla's strength. Building up everything she had.
"This is for Kael!" She unleashed it. Golden light in a massive beam. Aimed directly at Elara's chest.