Page 106 of A Luna's Dynasty
There was a crash outside, followed by a stampede of centaurs rushing to the northern border. These were warriors who were positioned at the southern perimeter, which meant the fight at the north was bad.
Caspian ran back in the room and Lita looked up at him. “Well?”
“It was dark. The color that it projected was black.”
“Damn … it isn’t just any neurotoxin. This is dark, vile magic. Caspian, can you see anything?”
Caspian bent over the nearest kid, expression hardening. He pressed his palm lightly to the boy’s forehead, closed his eyes, and concentrated. After a moment, he exhaled, eyes flicking open.
"I get nothing," he said. "Whatever this is, it’s shielded well. Like the magic is sewn up inside them."
"Can you break the shield?" Lita asked, desperation creeping into her tone.
Caspian shook his head. "Not directly. If I push, I might hurt them. But you could—" he broke off, staring at her hands. "You’re stronger than I am, Lita. And your fire burns hotter."
Lita stared at her own palms, at the faint blue light already kindling there.
"I can try," she said, not even sure who she was talking to.
She grabbed a fresh syringe, drew blood from the limp girl's arm, and held the vial to the light. The liquid was a deep crimson, but something about it seemed … off. A thin swirl of darker red spiraled in the center, like ink in water.
She set the vial on the table, closed her eyes, and summoned the fairy magic. It answered instantly, a flood of warmth roaring up from her core. Her eyes burned, vision going blurry for a second as the room melted away.
It was as if she were inside the blood. She could see the cells, the little armies of white and red, the tiny rivers carrying life everywhere they could. But something was wrong. Tiny shards of black—almost invisible—spun through the plasma, slicing into the cells as they passed. Each time one hit, a ripple of ice radiated outward, shutting down everything it touched.
Lita followed the trail, chasing the cold until she found the source. A twisted coil of magic, blacker than shadow, knotted in the heart of the blood. It pulsed with hate. With purpose.
She focused on it, imagining her fire like a blade. She sliced through the coil, watched as it shriveled and died, the cold melting away.
When she came back to herself, the vial was glowing faintly. The darkness inside had curled up and vanished. She exhaled, wiped her brow, and turned to Caspian. “This was ingested.Kristen, find out what they all ate. We need to know the source. Caspian, if we can break the spell, we can cure them.”
"Lita! Please—she's not breathing—"
"Over here, he's turning blue—"
"My son—my son—"
It was as if it was attacking them all at once. Trying to end the entire line of children from the pack.
Lita was desperate. If there ever was a time for her to use her powers, this was it. They all needed to be purified. There was no point in being this strong fairy princess if all she could do was watch them die. She searched deep inside herself. She mentally wrapped her fingers around the thread, feeling it vibrate like a plucked string, then yanked it upward through her chest. She focused on healing. On purifying. She visualized her energy flowing over the children, healing them. The magic erupted from her pores in gossamer threads of gold and silver, wrapping around her limbs like luminous vines before shooting outward in jagged comets. Each bolt struck a child with surgical precision, sinking beneath their skin with a sound like distant wind chimes. Where the light touched, color returned. Pale cheeks flushing pink, blue-tinged lips warming to coral.
Lita fell back, Caspian catching her as her vision darkened around the edges.
“Lita!”
“I’m okay. I just need a moment.”
"You did it, Lita. They’re all stabilizing." Kristen looked up from the child she was beside, eyes teary and smiling.
She wanted to laugh, or cry, or maybe just collapse on the floor for the next year. Instead, she looked up and saw the parents, every one of them clutching their kids, sobbing in gratitude and terror and shock.
One by one, the children woke up. Some groggy, some scared, some just wanting a cookie.
There was relief, but now she could focus on what happened. Someone had gone straight for the heart of the pack.
And Lita knew, without question, that it wasn’t over.
“I was promised another lollipop. It was really yummy,” one of the children said.
