Chapter 12: The Rising Storm

Morning unfurled across the forest, yet the unease of the night before had not left Luna. The clearing buzzed with life as she stepped out of her tent. The serious, hushed tones of Alec and Kade's exchange filled the air. Jax was a little farther away, sharpening the blade of a knife while watching the perimeter; it was a ritual that had always seemed to calm him when it felt like trouble was brewing.

Luna felt considerably weighted down by what she had talked to Jax about the previous night. His vision of that forest burning, her vanishing, gnawed on the inside of her like an insistent whisper of doom. As much as she wanted to dismiss it, the fear of a ritual getting out of hand bore down on her.

"Morning." Alec's voice interrupted her thoughts as he stood some distance away, offering her a reassuring smile. "How do you fare?" 

Luna half-heartedly ducked her head, trying to shake off her anxiety. "I didn't sleep much."

"None of us did," Alec said, unsparingly. He waved his hand toward the relic standing at the center of the ritual circle, bathing in the early morning sun. "We're almost ready. Kade went over the texts again last night and found no way to cut down the time here, but we'll pull through this. Together."

"She glanced back at Kade," who was fussing with the candles and crystals. He was always calm, keeping his cool like an anchor in chaos. But even he was giving away the nerves in his movements.

"What if something goes wrong?" 

The words were out. Such a threadbare inquiry, but one she could not suppress. "What if the power is too much for us to control?"

Alec softened his face and rested a hand on her shoulder. "We're prepared, Luna. We've gone over everything we can think of that has to do with the ritual. We've been up against worse odds before, and we've come out better for it."

She wanted to believe him, but Jax's vision kept ringing in her ears; something terrible loomed just out of reach.

Jax approached, now with a sheath in his blade. With a glance between Luna and Alec, he addressed the group. "I've been thinking... if we are right about the Nightborne being this close, they might try to disrupt the ritual. We need a plan if they happen to attack before we're done."

Kade nodded aye. "We become so very vulnerable when performing the ritual. If they shatter the circle or break the flow of energy, the consequences would be catastrophic." 

Warnings mixed with determination commanded Alec's tone: “Then we shall take turns. Two deservedly focus incorporated towards the ritual, while the other two would keep watch. If the Nightborne shows up, we'll defend ourselves, but we won't let them stop the ritual. Understood?” An adoption of gravitas swirled like a gloomy cloud in the atmosphere.

“The stronger energy will present itself during the time just as the full moon progresses above the horizon when the golden sun yields way to darkness,” Kade continued. “From now on, we will run over the program again and check that nothing is out of place.”

As the hours wore on, Luna found herself functioning as one with the rest, her mind drifting. The relic's energy was swelling in size, throbbing mid-clearing as though imitating a heart. Within her, it demanded heed, locked its gaze upon the twins with both poise and trepidation.

As the sunset commenced, the surrounding forest seemed to still a little. The sky melted from the color blue into a deep orange, and an air of anticipation thickened around them. Luna's heart thumped wildly within her chest when they took their places around the circle, the relic pulsing faintly beside them in the dwindling light.

"We're ready," Kade spoke with quiet firmness in his voice.

Alec and Kade moved inside the circle, with Luna and Jax keeping guard, scanning the perimeter of the clearing for signs of any movement. The air was alive with electricity, while the candles flickered with excitement in the soft breeze as the full moon began to rise up into the sky.

As Kade started reciting ancient words in the texts, the energy shifted in the atmosphere. The relic glowed a bright violet, emanating power off its crystal surface. Alec raised his voice to place it together with Kade's incantation and let the sound of their songs reverberate within Luna's spine. 

For a moment, all was right with the world. The power of the ritual became obvious, and the energy was flowing freely between them and the relic.

But suddenly, Luna felt it: an intrusion like a ripple in the air. Her senses sharpened as she scanned the woods around them-that had grown darker. Something was on its way. She felt it.

"Jax," she gasped urgently above a whisper, "do you feel it?"

Jax's eyes darted to the trees as his muscles threatened to freeze. "Yeah. Something's out there."

Before they could react to the danger, a dark shadow burst out of the treeline-fast and silent. Luna barely had time to raise her hand before something snatched her. She saw the glowing red eyes and unmistakable scent of the Nightborne.

"Luna!" Alec shouted, his concentration case broken just as the Nightborne warrior came at her.

She dodged the attack like she had never before. She inserted the soul of her wolf, her body slightly changing, her claws finally coming out of her fingertips. Scratched the Nightborne across the arm with her sharp claws.

Jax was already in motion, his knife flashing against another assailant. "We’ve got to hold them off!" he yelled. "They can’t break the circle!"

Alec and Kade were having trouble keeping the rule controlled as the chant began to break with the Nightborne's attack. She wondered if this circle got broken, they'd have forever lost the chance of possibly controlling the relics for good.

"Focus on the ritual!" Luna cried over her shoulder, turning to confront the other Nightborne. "We've got this one handled!"

There was the slightest pause in Alec's voice as he turned back to the chant, his words deeper, raspier now that the powers of the relic were in motion, fluctuating like something startled by the surrounding chaos. 

Jax stood there, fighting fiercely beside her, his movements precise and lethal, but more and more Nightborne shrouded in darkness were being unleashed into the fray. This clearing had turned into a battlefield, with the sound of claws and steel clashing through the night.

"We are overnumbered!", Jax growled, gritting his teeth, as he parried another blow.

Luna's heart was about to leap out of her chest. They couldn't afford to lose this fight now, not when it was so close at hand. She pushed back some more against the Nightborne, instincts working in overdrive, but for every enemy down, two rose up.

Suddenly, an enormous wave of energy rocked the clearing. Luna cast a glance toward the relic and stared at it in absolute awe: it blazed with the brightest light. The energy was wild, spiraling almost out of control. Alec and Kade struggled to rein it in.

"Something's wrong!" Kade yelled from very far away. His voice strained. "The relic-it's too much!"

Luna's stomach caved in. Jax's vision-it was all happening. The chaos, the burning forest, the wild terror. Everything was slipping out of control.

Then a bright flash of pain sprung the relic into an explosion of energy, sending everyone tumbling. With the force of this energy, Luna felt herself being sent backward and hitting the ground hard. She wheezed and gasped while everything spun around her.

After much waiting for the dust to settle, she slowly raised to her feet, her ears ringing with sounds. The clearing had been encumbered with debris, fallen trees, and the flickering flames caused by the broken candles.

What tore the breath away from her lungs was the sight that loomed in the center of the clearing.

Alec knelt, the relic glowing dimly in his hands but rendering even more terrifying by what stood behind him-a huge dark figure with glowing red eyes that might have been taller in stature and ten times as powerful as any Nightborne they had ever faced. 

It wasn’t just any enemy.

It was their worst nightmare come to life.