Chapter 26: Mother and Monster — The Final Confrontation
522words
I stood before the Moon Altar, the ancient stone stairs gleaming under starlight.
Across from me—my mother.
Still cloaked in her silver-grey mantle, shoulders sharp as sculpture.
“You really made it all the way here,” she said, voice flat.
“Took me longer than you expected,” I replied. “But I’m here.”
She smiled.
That same cold, proud, scornful smile I’d seen since childhood.
“You think shattering a few mirrors and waving a rebellion of trial rats gives you the right to challenge me?”
“I know you killed my brother,” I cut her off. “You sacrificed him to the Dark Moon. For power. For your pathetic throne.”
Her smile froze for a heartbeat.
Then—she nodded.
“Yes.”
“I killed him.”
“He was too weak. He couldn’t be Luna.”
“And you… you lived only because I needed a scapegoat. A vessel to suffer in my place.”
The mark of the Dark Moon burned warm in my palm.
I steadied my breath.
“Do you know what I survived down there?” I said, voice low.
“I ate dirt. Drank from rusted pipes. Watched friends dragged away and burned.”
“You gave me no love. Only hell.”
She scoffed.
“But you lived, didn’t you?”
“You got this far because you hated me.”
“You want to fight back? Be the hero?”
She dropped her cloak.
Underneath, her battle-gear glinted—silver and crimson sigils woven tight like armor.
“Fine.”
“Then come, Daphne.”
“Let your mother send you back to hell herself.”
She struck first—
Moonblades slicing, silver light cascading like a waterfall.
I rolled aside, wolf-soul howling in my veins.
We clashed between ancient stone pillars, magic and instinct colliding.
The ground shattered beneath us.
She was stronger.
Sharper.
More controlled.
But she didn’t understand one thing:
I didn’t survive by skill.
I survived because I refused to kneel.
She tried to cut me down with words:
“You’re a defect.”
“Without me, you wouldn’t even be alive.”
“Rebel all you want—you’ll become me in the end.”
I staggered back, blood on my lips.
Then I laughed.
“Then you really failed.”
“Because I’m nothing like you anymore.”
I raised my hand.
The Dark Moon sigil burst open, full force.
The wolf-soul surged behind me.
And then—
A brilliant figure appeared: my brother.
His spirit, sealed in the Moon mark all these years…
Smiling at me.
“I’m bringing you home,” I whispered.
Our souls aligned.
The final strike pierced her chest.
She dropped to her knees, eyes wide.
Shocked.
Bleeding.
“You…” she gasped, coughing blood. “You resonated…”
“How is that… possible…”
I knelt beside her.
“Because I chose not to become you.”
“You killed family for power. I chose forgiveness for freedom.”
“You bartered blood for control. I gathered hope—and broke your chain.”
She growled—a sound almost beastlike.
Then fell still.
Meredith, once Luna of the Silvermoon line—
Died by her daughter’s hand.
Down the mountain, the clans began to gather.
The Judicators arrived.
Killian stepped forward, leading them, silent and solemn.
He lifted her body.
Carried it into the ancestral hall.
The Trial of Judgment would soon begin.
And I—
I would face the next choice.
