Page 183 of Magical Moonbeam
He barreled into Gideon like a wall of fury, claws raking across the magical illusion shielding Gideon’s chest. Sparks flew. Gideon shrieked and retaliated, conjuring a whip of darkness that coiled around Keegan’s leg and yanked him off his feet.
Keegan slammed to the ground, rolled, and used the momentum to launch himself back up, dragging the whip taut andsnappingit at the hilt. The weapon unraveled in Gideon’s hand.
They clashed again—magic and muscle, rage and resilience.
I couldn’t look away.
Every blow Keegan landed cracked the very air around them. He moved like water, always adjusting, always reading Gideon’s next move. And Gideon, he was pure chaos. Power leaking from his fingertips, spells muttered under his breath between curses.
The floor around them was scorched. Cracked. Smoking.
But Keegan didn’t back down.
Not once.
Not even when Gideon drove a spike of shadow through his shoulder.
Keeganroared, the sound animal and furious, and hekept going.
He caught Gideon’s wrist in one hand, his blood dripping down his arm, andsqueezed.
Gideon shrieked as the bones cracked.
Keegan pulled him forward, landed a brutal punch to the gut, then lifted Gideon by the front of his coat andslammedhim down onto the floor hard enough to shake the walls.
For a heartbeat, there was only silence.
Then Gideon’s lips curled.
And he whispered, “You’re too late.”
That’s when the floorbeneaththem cracked.
I shouted his name.
Keegan turned toward me, just a glance.
And in that moment, Gideon vanished in a ripple of magic.
Not dead.
Not broken.
Butretreating.
He sank through the floor like smoke, leaving only the echo of his laugh and the scent of scorched air behind.
Keegan collapsed to his knees, panting, blood soaking the front of his shirt. His hands shook. One eye was already swelling.
But he looked up at me and smiled.
“I told you,” he murmured. “He keeps losing.”
I was already running to him. I dropped beside him and touched the wound on his shoulder.
“It’s deep,” I whispered, eyes burning.
“I’ve had worse,” he said. “He’s gone?”
