Page 112 of A Hunter for Luna

Now was the time. I had to turn my link to my baby into a weapon and wait to strike. To channel the dark moon's magic through both of us and use it to shatter Moonshifter's spell from within.

If I failed, if I let Vala become a god at the cost of my child’s life... I would never forgive myself. The guilt would eat me alive as surely as any godly wrath.

I bit my lip until I tasted blood, fighting to master the pain. Straightening in my chains, spine stiff with defiance. I had to wait for my moment, fending away the damage to the babe, taking it into myself.

One way or another, I would teach these twisted fools the cost of threatening my family.

Between one blink and the next, the world shattered and reformed. Coarse sand and white dust scraped my feet and the sun beat down like a hammer, scouring away all thought. I squinted against the sudden glare, my chains digging into raw skin as I twisted.

This was where my dreams happened? I’d been to the Godplane unknowing? Would the dark shrouded figure, whatever he was, manifest here too?

The barren desert stretched out to the horizon in all directions, broken only by wind-scoured boulders. Heat shimmers danced in the distance, mocking my thirst. But Moonshifter's ritual circle had come with us, every rune and sigil intact.

The magic pulsed under the merciless sun, trails of silver and gold and dark purple burning in the very air.

Vala stood beside the circle, her arms raised in raw exultation, murmuring a chant very different from Moonshifter's eldritch invocation. "Void, hear your daughter. I summon the dead god’s power contained in your depths, through the dark moon’s power. The wards are broken, and I stand ready."

The surge of magic jolted me, twisting as if in the connection I’d forged with my babe.

Shock jolted through me, driving out even the pain in my belly. “You follow the Void?”

“I follow what will achieve my ends,” whispered Vala. “I will see Dimare, and my family covered in the glory we deserve.”

A clatter of chains and a strangled roar snapped Vala's attention away from me. Benedetto. He thrashed against his bonds, his muscles bunching, his face a mask of rage and frustration. My heart twisted at the sight. He was killing himself trying to reach me, uncaring of the damage to his own body.

"Still he persists. Admirable, in its way." Vala watched Benedetto sadly. "I wish he could understand why this is for the best."

Her words scoured my soul like the desert wind. She was utterly, completely mad. And worse, her madness made a terrible sense. I could see the shape of her plan now, and it filled me with despair.

The gods really were dead and their power in the Void, and my child would grant the ascension she craved. She had thought of everything.

And yet, Benedetto still fought. Seeing him, the wild defiance in his eyes, the set of his jaw, kindled an ember of hope in my breast. As he could rage against this fate, distracting them, I’d wait and strike.

A shadow fell over the sun, and the sky darkened to a bruised violet. The wind picked up, scouring the desert with flying grit. On its heels came a sound that made every hair on my body stand erect - a keening wail, an eagle's shriek, the hunting scream of some unnatural beast.

Fear rolled before it. I’d heard that cry in my dreams.

In the center of the circle, a vortex of starless black ripped open above our heads, devouring light, thought, sanity. Ribbons of silver nothingness swirled out from its maw, enveloping Vala and Moonshifter.

They shone so bright I turned my eyes away rather than be blinded.

I collapsed to my knees, gagging on the waves of crushing force emanating from the ritual. It felt like being buried alive, like drowning in power. My pulse roared in my ears and cold sweat drenched my skin. I could barely breathe, barely think. I held the bond with the babe.

But through the haze of pain and fear, I saw it - Vala and Moonshifter's utter distraction. Their absorption in the power pouring into them.

Their iron control had slipped.

Now!

While the ritual continued, their bodies would be vulnerable to a physical force. If I could shatter the bonds restraining Benedetto.

I gathered the magic, mine and the babe’s. A cold, clear energy, pure and piercing as moonlight on snow. It sang through my blood and nerves.

The dark moon's magic, our birthright. A legacy of power, devouring madness and secret wisdom.

I had only barely touched this force before, even when Grandmother trained me. So much magic could master me, erasing all that I was. But now, here, it was my only hope. My sole weapon against the horror that threatened everything I held dear.

I closed my eyes, shutting out the nightmare vortex, the terrifying light, even Benedetto's desperate struggle. I focused inward, diving deep into the icy ocean that swelled beneath myheart. I visualized the gossamer thread that bound me to my child, pulsing with argent fire. With infinite care, I gathered up blazing droplets of that power.

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