Moonlight split in half.
A ragged seam of crimson fire tore across the heavens, turning clouds to ash and silver light to blood. For a breath-long moment, every creature on the battlefield froze: soldiers, wolves, spirits—each caught beneath a sky that suddenly felt too close to the earth.
Raina stood at the courtyard's jagged edge, sword humming in her grip. Heat from the sky licked along her skin, waking the power that coiled under her flesh like a second heartbeat. Behind her, Lucien's presence vibrated alpha-strong, fangs just visible as rage and worry warred in his eyes.
Maeva reached them at a sprint, her twin daggers sparking moon-silver. "The Crimson Coven," she hissed, nodding to the bleeding sky. "They're here to finish what they started."
The Crimson Coven. Once protectors of balance, now corrupted by blood magic and hunger for absolute dominion. They wanted Raina's mark—wanted the memories, the prophecy, the power that could tilt every realm.
A single bell tolled from the east wall.
The siege began.
Flame-etched warriors poured from the treeline first, bodies carved with glowing runes, blades forged in volcanic fire. The outer wards flashed incandescent blue, then cracked like glass. Energy coursed through stone and soil; the mansion shuddered.
"Hold the line!" Lucien roared, voice half-wolf, half-man.
Raina leapt into motion. Bond and blade blurred; every swing painted a ribbon of molten light. Maeva's arrows spiraled silver, each strike a small starburst. Lucien shifted mid-air; fur and flesh mingled, claws ripping into the front rank with feral precision.
The enemy kept coming.
A shockwave of red lightning slammed into the courtyard. Raina tumbled across fractured flagstones, senses ringing. Through the haze, she saw him stride from the smoke:
Elias.
Not the friend she remembered. This Elias wore grief and fury like armor. Fire curled around his wrists, haloing his raven hair. Crownless, but unmistakably royal in his wrath.
"You were never meant to survive this," he said, voice raw.
Raina rose, bracing her sword. "Then I'll rewrite what was meant."
The air screamed as magic collided with iron resolve. Elias advanced, but Lucien flashed between them, claws out. Rage met sorrow; sparks blossomed.
"Enough!" Raina thrust her blade between the two men, eyes blazing gold. "I end this."
Maeva danced a lethal spiral, daggers singing.
Lucien tore through three spell-soldiers with one spinning lunge.
Raina's sword carved glowing arcs of prophecy, each cut a future refusing to bend.
Yet the tide refused to ebb.
Elias lifted his palm; red lightning speared across the yard. It struck Raina square in the chest. Pain flared white, then molten. She staggered, breath stolen.
"Raina!" Lucien's roar cracked stone.
But she would not fall.
Light ignited beneath her skin, runic lines blazing across her arms, collar, and throat. She lifted her head; golden eyes met Elias's crimson power.
One step. Two.
Her blade flashed.
She forced him back, one heartbeat at a time, until the tip kissed his throat.
She could end him.
She didn't.
"Go," she whispered. "Before you lose the part that still remembers love."
Regret flickered in his gaze. He vanished into smoke.
Silence descended, broken only by the distant crackle of dying flames. Survivors gathered: guards gripping scorched pikes, witches pressing hands to wounds that bled starlight. The Crimson Coven had withdrawn, though not beaten: they had tested the Huntress and measured her fire.
Lucien crossed the courtyard in three strides, blood streaked across his jaw. He swept Raina into his arms, crushing her against a chest that still trembled with fear he would never admit.
"You didn't kill him," he rasped.
"He spared me once." Raina pressed her forehead to his. "Everyone deserves one mercy."
His lips claimed hers—hot, desperate. Moon-tainted embers drifted around them as though blessing the kiss.
'A new bell tolled solemnly, echoing over ruined stone.
The battle was done.
The war was not.
Hours later
The great hall smelled of smoke, sweat, and bitter herbs. Healers moved quietly among cots. At the war table, Maeva plotted defensive patterns; Elias's absence felt like a missing star, dark and heavy.
Raina leaned against the balcony rail above, her gaze drifting over the courtyard where pyres still smoldered.
Lucien joined her. The night wind tangled his hair; dried blood flaked from the cut on his cheekbone.
"You should rest," she murmured.
"So should you." He brushed an ash-soot curl from her face.
"Sleep feels like betrayal."
He softened. "Then we stay awake together."
She turned, sliding her palm beneath his torn shirt. His heartbeat stuttered under her touch. "I thought I lost you today."
"You won't." He bent, kissing her slowly. "I am tethered to your fire."
Raina's breath caught. She fisted his shirt, pressed her mouth to his. The kiss deepened, salt, ash, and promise. Her robe slipped from one shoulder; his hands were reverent, hungry.
"Bedroom," he whispered.
She nodded, pulse thundering.
Lucien carried her to the low mattress they shared. Candlelight flickered across golden runes on her skin, turning her into living starlight. He laid her down as though she were both treasure and weapon.
There was no frenzy now, only deliberate worship. His lips traced the glowing paths of her mark; her fingers threaded through his hair. He peeled her robe away; she tugged at his trousers. They fit together slowly, breath catching.
"I love you," he said, his voice trembling as he slid inside.
"Show me," she breathed.
They moved like tide and moon, deep, unhurried, inexorable. Every thrust rewove the bond; every gasp sealed the world beyond the walls. When pleasure crested, they shattered together, soft cries muffled by kisses.
After, she rested against his chest, listening to the steady drum of his heart.
"Tomorrow," he said, stroking her hair, "we plan the final strike."
She nodded. "Tonight, we remember why we fight."
A hush blanketed the estate. No birds sang. Even the wind seemed to kneel. In the war hall, warriors gathered around the scarred map.
Maeva spoke first. "Scouts confirm: the Coven retreat is temporary. They'll strike at the final moon in three nights' time."
Lucien's hand closed over Raina's. "We need a way to break their tether to the Source before then."
Elias stepped from the shadows, bandaged, eyes hollow. "There is a relic buried beneath the first Huntress stronghold. It severs soul-bonds—Coven, Huntress, all of it."
Maeva stiffened. "Cost?"
"Power," Elias answered. "And possibly life."
Raina met his gaze across the table. "Then we find it."
Lucien shook his head. "The relic drains both bond and body. It could kill you."
Raina inhaled slowly. Around them, the hall waited.
"I was reborn for a reason," she said. "If my life buys peace, it's a fair trade."
Lucien's protest withered behind his eyes, but he squeezed her hand, a vow of defiance against fate.
Moonlit farewell
That night, Raina stood on the tower balcony. Golden runes glowed beneath her skin, bright as constellations. Lucien wrapped his arms around her from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder.
"I'm scared," she whispered.
"I know," he said. "But look at everything we've survived."
She turned, cupping his face. "If tomorrow takes me…"
"It won't." Tears glistened in his silver eyes.
"But if it does," she persisted, "remember tonight."
His lips trembled against hers. "There is no tonight without you."
He lifted her, carrying her inside. Candle-flame washed the room in amber. They undressed each other slowly, clothing pooling like surrendered armor. When he entered her, it was a prayer spoken in flesh and fire.
They moved with aching tenderness, each stroke a plea to eternity. When release finally consumed them, their bodies trembled in perfect unison.'
Wrapped in blankets, heartbeats steady, they watched dawn paint pale gold across cracked stone.
"Whatever happens," Raina murmured, "the world will know we lived."
Lucien kissed her brow. "And burned bright."
Somewhere beyond the mountains, an ancient force shivered awake—its eyes turning toward the Flameborn who dared to choose her own fate.
The countdown to the final moon had begun.