Chapter 55 ''Luna''
Steven laughed nervously.
"You're overreacting," he said. "One death doesn't define a war."
Conrad turned slowly to him.
"No," he replied. "But it defines a target."
Kael walked to the center of the hall.
"The chosen leader wasn't just eliminated," he said. "He was displayed. The Erasers want us to know they can bypass councils, titles, and protections."
"What do they want?" someone asked.
Everyone looked at me.
I swallowed hard.
"They want to provoke division," I said. "If we do it alone, they won't need to choose anymore."
The symbol burned brighter, and for a second I saw—not with my eyes, but from within.
A pulsating fissure like living flesh. Formless shadows. And a conscious, watchful presence.
"Then we need to act before the next choice."
The elder sage took a deep breath.
"What if the next chosen one is already among us?"
Silence fell heavily again.
Conrad intertwined his fingers with mine.
"Then we won't fight to save titles," he said. "We'll fight to prevent oblivion from deciding who deserves to exist."
"They crossed the rift, the castle, and now the heart of the kingdom," said a leader from the north. "What prevents them from choosing another tonight?"
"Nothing," Kael replied coldly. "Except her."
Everyone turned to look at me again.
I felt the weight of that expectation press down on my shoulders, but I didn't flinch.
"The Erasers choose through fear," I said. "Through what is hidden, denied, silenced." "They feel internal cracks."
Teven stepped forward.
"So now it's our fault?" he asked. "Are we going to blame ourselves while the kingdom crumbles?"
Conrad stood beside me.
"No," he said. "But let's stop pretending that purity protects anyone."
The symbol beneath my skin pulsed, and the air around me seemed to close in.
"They've already marked another," I said, feeling a different, deeper chill. "They haven't attacked yet because they want to see what we'll do."
"A test," Kael murmured.
"A choice," I finished. "Either we split." "Or we'll show that there will be no more easy names."
The bell rang again, alone, without human hands.
The wise man swallowed hard.
"Then tonight no one sleeps," he said. "And no one is alone."
The council ended without votes, without formal agreements. Only with whispered orders and suspicious glances.
The leaders left the hall in small groups, as if proximity could ward off fate. Extra guards were positioned. Ancient symbols were reactivated on the walls. Nothing seemed enough.
I remained in the center, motionless.
"What exactly did you feel?" Kael asked, cautiously approaching.
"It wasn't a place," I replied. "It was an intention. They don't just want to eliminate." "They want to break what holds the kingdom together."
Conrad frowned.
"Then the next attack won't be silent."
"No." I confirmed. "It will be public."
One of the sages approached, his voice low.
"If they've already marked someone, can we find out who it is?"
I closed my eyes for a moment. The symbol under my skin responded, warming slowly, as if resisting.
"I can try," I said. "But that will expose me. And they'll feel it."
Kael didn't hesitate.
"Then we'll do it under full protection."
Steven let out a short, humorless laugh.
"Or you're just eager to prove she's the only weapon we have."
Conrad turned to him, his golden eyes gleaming.
"Be careful what you call a weapon," he said. "She is the Luna of this kingdom."
The silence fell heavy again.
I took a deep breath and stepped forward.
"There is no room for discord among us," I said firmly, looking at Steven authoritatively.
The air shifted instantly, as if the castle had held its breath.
Kael was the first to react. "All leaders and sages must remain under escort," he said firmly. "No one is alone tonight."
"It's too late for that," I murmured, placing my hand on my chest. The symbol burned now, erratic, restless. "The choice has already been made."
Conrad stood before me without thinking. "Then say who," he ordered, his voice low, laden with threat. "Say it now."
I shook my head slowly. "I don't see a face," I confessed. "I see a thread. A weak but open connection. Someone who has already been touched by fear. Someone who doubted."
The murmur spread through the hall again.
Steven took a step back, almost imperceptible.
One of the oldest sages clutched his chest. "This is impossible," he said, pale. "The protections—"
They were interrupted by a distant scream.
The hall plunged into a tense silence, too heavy to be natural.
Conrad was the first to move. "Kael, take half the guard to the east wing," he ordered. "No one goes in alone. No one goes out."
Kael nodded and was already walking away when I stopped beside him. "Don't let them see the body," I said urgently. "That's what they want. Panic. Reaction. Hasty judgment."
Kael stared at me for another second. "Then come with me," he said softly. "If the rift touched someone there, you'll feel it."
Conrad turned immediately. "It won't," he said firmly. "Not while I breathe."
The symbol burned, demanding. "I need to go," I said, even though I hated those words. "If I don't learn to heed that call, they'll always be one step ahead."
Conrad closed his eyes for a moment, as if waging a silent war with himself. Then he nodded. "I'll go with you," he said. "This isn't an argument."
We walked through the corridors on high alert. Torches were hastily relit, shadows danced on the walls like bad memories. The closer we got to the east wing, the thicker the air became, difficult to breathe.
Then I felt it.
"Here," I whispered, stopping before a half-open door.
Before anyone could touch it, it opened by itself.
Inside, one of the sages lay on the floor, eyes wide open, expression frozen in pure terror. There was no blood. No wounds.
Only a black symbol etched over his heart.
Just like mine.
Conrad took a step forward, growling softly. "They've marked their territory."
No. I thought, feeling the cold envelop me.
They were calling me.
The symbol on my chest responded to the other like an ancient echo. It didn't burn. It called.
I took a step into the room, ignoring the immediate tightening of Conrad's hand on my arm. "Maya, no." He said, low, restrained. But it was too late. I was already connected to it.
The walls seemed to pulse. The air grew heavy, laden with a whisper that didn't come from any mouth. The rift wasn't physically there—I understood that in that instant—but its influence was. Like invisible fingers groping through reality, searching for cracks.
"He wasn't just killed." I murmured. "He was emptied."
Kael swallowed hard. "And what did they take?"
I closed my eyes. Images pierced me like blades: the open Dead Moon, kneeling shadows, ancient voices reciting names. One stood out. A name I knew.
I opened my eyes abruptly. "They've already chosen the next one".
Before I could answer, the black symbol on the sage's chest shattered into smoke, dissolving into thin air. In its place, only one word remained, etched into the stone floor.
Luna.