The horizon bled red before dawn. The scent of smoke already drifted through the trees when Selene and Elias stood at the ridge above the valley. Below them, hundreds of wolves moved like a living tide. The hunters had come in force.
Elias's voice was steady, but his jaw was tight. "This isn't a raid. It's war."
Selene felt the pull of the bond, the hum of power that lived in her veins since the Blood Oath. "Then let it begin."
The First Charge
The first volley of silver-tipped arrows hissed through the air. Wolves howled. Selene threw up her hand on instinct, and a curtain of light flared out of her palm. Arrows turned to ash before they struck.
Gasps rippled through both sides. The Moonborn had revealed herself.
Elias shifted, leaping from the ridge with a snarl that shook the valley. The pack surged after him. Selene followed, light blooming from her fingertips like living fire. Wherever she moved, the hunters' lines broke.
But the enemy had learned. They came with iron sigils that burned against magic, and with cages meant to trap wolves mid-shift.
Selene saw one of Elias's lieutenants fall, screaming as silver chains coiled around his throat. Rage flared through her. She raised both hands, and the earth itself shuddered. Roots erupted from the soil, tearing through metal and flesh alike.
The battlefield fell silent for a heartbeat, stunned.
Elias landed beside her, golden eyes wide. "You shouldn't be able to do that yet."
"I didn't plan it," she breathed. "It just happened."
"Then don't stop."
Fire Unleashed
As the sun climbed, the battle turned chaotic. Hunters lit torches soaked in silver, throwing them into the underbrush. Flames raced through the forest, smoke swallowing the moonlight.
Selene pushed through the haze, coughing, searching for Elias. She found him locked in combat with a massive figure a man wearing armor etched with lunar runes. The Hunter-Captain.
Elias struck, claws flashing, but the Captain parried with a silver blade that sang through the air. Sparks flew.
Selene ran forward, but the Captain turned the blade on her, chanting words that twisted the air. The metal glowed red.
"Moonborn," he spat, "your blood ends tonight."
Pain seared her chest as the blade grazed her shoulder. The bond screamed in protest. Elias roared, tackling the Captain to the ground.
Selene fell to her knees, clutching her wound. Blood dripped between her fingers and then burned gold. The Blood Oath answered the attack. Her heartbeat thundered; the glow spread down her arms.
The ground cracked beneath her. Flames poured from the fissures, spiraling upward like ribbons of light. Hunters stumbled back, blinded.
"Selene!" Elias shouted, but she could barely hear him. The fire spoke in her mind, whispering her name like a chant.
Fire is not destruction, it said. Fire is renewal.
She thrust her hands forward. A wave of pure flame erupted, sweeping across the battlefield. It didn't burn the wolves only the darkness, only the chains, only the silver.
When the blaze faded, the hunters were retreating, their lines broken, their sigils shattered. The valley smoked and hissed, glowing with embers.
Selene stood at the center of it all, trembling but unbowed.
After the Fire
By dusk, the pack had gathered the wounded and the fallen. The forest was blackened, but alive.
Elias approached her quietly. "You saved them," he said. "But you also showed them what you are."
Selene looked out over the scorched earth. "Then they'll come again."
"Yes," he said. "And next time, they'll bring more than blades."
The bond pulsed between them, warm and steady. "Let them," she whispered. "I won't hide anymore."
He reached for her hand, squeezing once. "Then the world will remember tonight as the night the Moonborn rose."
Above them, the first stars appeared through the smoke, faint and trembling but still burning.