Chapter 24: The Price of Freedom — Severed Moon’s Full Uprising
493words
Mother had unleashed the Moonhunters—her oldest breed of wolf-soldiers.
Trained from childhood.
Minds overwritten with obedience implants.
No thought. No hesitation.
Only kill.
And their target—was us.
“They’re here,” Koren muttered, sword across his back, eyes narrowed at the mountain pass.
“Not many. But clean, efficient. They’re not here for prisoners.”
Raccoon clenched his jaw. “Then what the hell are we waiting for?!”
I raised a hand, stopping him.
“Not yet.”
“This fight—has to be more than survival.”
“It has to be a message.”
“We’ll show them. Show every trial slave watching—that the oppressed, the broken, the used… can win.”
I stepped up onto the ridge, voice cutting through the mountain air:
“I was born a slave.
I lived on my knees, without a name.”
“But today, I stand here as the leader of Severed Moon—
And I say this:
Freedom is not a gift. It’s something you take back.”
“You can choose to suffer quietly.
Or tonight—you can choose to rise.”
The moment the words fell, a howl split the sky.
One by one, Severed Moon’s hidden members stepped forward.
Dozens—then hundreds—of trial fighters tore off their issued gear, revealing gray robes and black rings.
The mark of our rebellion.
Below, the Moonhunters surged up the slope.
We gathered every fighter. Every will still unbroken.
And we fought.
The first clash was pure blood and chaos.
Tai roared, hacking down two in one strike.
“I don’t care if she trained you herself—get your leash-bitten asses on the ground!”
Amy was yelling at Koren while pressing a tourniquet on a half-conscious fighter.
“Give me five seconds—Koren, break that arm now!”
“No problem.” Slam.
“AAAHHHHHHH!”
“…I told you to wait five seconds!”
“You never said after the count.”
“Did your mom teach you field medicine in a slaughterhouse?!”
—
Across the battlefield, more trial participants hesitated.
Frozen in fear.
Caught between orders and awakening.
I shouted to them:
“If you’re afraid—I won’t blame you.”
“But ask yourself—
Do you want to keep being the Wolfmother’s experiment?”
“Or do you want to take back your future, with your own hands?”
Silence.
Then—
A grizzled man stepped forward.
“My name is Sivon. Fifth-gen failed subject.”
“I’ll fight for Severed Moon.”
He dropped his chains.
Others followed.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
The silent ones… picked up weapons.
The night turned thick with fire and wolvesong.
I had never felt such heat in my bones.
It wasn’t magic.
Wasn’t strategy.
Wasn’t command.
It was awakening.
It was the soul’s choice—to rise.
“She can’t control us anymore,” Koren said quietly, joining me at the front.
“The Wolfmother’s afraid now,” Tai grinned, blood on his cheek.
I took a long breath.
And slowly raised my right hand.
The sigil of the Dark Moon lit up in my palm, glowing like it was alive.
The moonlight bent, gathering around us.
“From this night forward—”
“The true trial of the wolves…”
“Is no longer obedience.”
“It is—freedom.”
