CH 014: Full Moon's Fury

The silvery - white moonlight, as plump and full as a ripe fruit, punched through the ancient castle's domed ceiling like a powerful spotlight.

Its bright, cold glow painted the entire room in a ghostly hue.

The sharp light hit Lily dead - center, and she could feel the cool touch of the moonlight on her skin, like a thousand tiny icicles dancing on her flesh.

And poof—she wasn't just Lily anymore.

Her fur, if you could call it that, wasn't just growing; it was practically combusting.

The fiery red and orange fur flared around her, creating a searing, blazing halo.

You could almost hear the crackling sound of the fur as it grew, like the sound of a wildfire consuming dry leaves.

The heat radiating from her fur was so intense that it made the air around her shimmer.

Think less "werewolf," more "super - saiyan, but with more shedding."

Victoria, who'd been looking pretty smug just a second ago with her ice - crystal - floor - routine, was now sporting an expression that screamed, "Wait, that's illegal!" The ice beneath her clawed feet, which had once sparkled like a million diamonds under the moonlight, shattered with a loud, echoing crack.

The shards flew in all directions, making a tinkling sound like broken glass.

The ice quickly disintegrated into a pathetic slush, and the cold, wet slush seeped through the gaps in her claws.

"Impossible!" she spat, her voice cracking like, well, ice.

The sharp sound of her voice cut through the tense atmosphere.

"A werewolf… with that?"

Because, see, Lily wasn't sprouting the usual, predictable wolf tail.

Oh no.

This was some next - level stuff.

Behind her, shimmering into existence, were wings.

The wings glowed with a soft, celestial light that illuminated the dark corners of the castle.

You could see the faint, swirling patterns of starlight within the wings, like nebulae floating in the vast universe.

The light from the wings cast a warm, otherworldly glow on Lily's face.

Not bat wings, not bird wings, but wings woven from pure, concentrated starlight.

Think celestial swan, if swans were known for ripping vampires limb from limb.

She casually raised a hand, and, with a deafening sound like a thousand champagne flutes meeting a violent end, every single pane of glass in the goddamn castle exploded.

The shards of glass flew through the air, glinting in the moonlight like tiny, deadly daggers.

The sharp edges of the glass made a whistling sound as they sliced through the air.

It was less a werewolf transformation and more a magical girl sequence gone gloriously, terrifyingly right.

Or wrong.

Depending on your perspective, and whether you valued antique stained glass.

Before this, there had been some faint memories in Lily's mind, like a half - forgotten dream.

She sometimes felt a strange sense of longing when she thought about her mother, a feeling she couldn't quite explain.

These were the subtle clues that were about to tie into what was to come.

Alexander, never one to be completely left out of a dramatic moment, suddenly gripped Lily's wrist.

His hand, usually cool, felt almost feverish against her burning skin.

The heat from Lily's skin made his palm tingle.

"Lily! Look at me!" His voice was strained, the usual smooth baritone roughened with… was that fear?

"You've got two powers duking it out in there, a cage match of epic proportions. But you are the one in charge! Remember?"

The whole scene was so beautifully chaotic that even I need a moment to understand what's going on.

Victoria, ever the opportunist (and apparently a slow learner), saw her chance.

While Lily was distracted by Alexander's pep talk and the whole "wings of starlight" thing, she lunged, a dagger, gleaming with some suspiciously green goo, aimed squarely at Lily's back.

The goo on the dagger gave off a pungent, sickly smell, like rotting plants.

Classic villain move, right?

Except…

Thwack.

The dagger never made contact.

Instead, Victoria found herself flash - frozen, encased in a rapidly forming pillar of ice that looked suspiciously like one of her own creations.

The ice was so cold that it sent a shiver through the air, and you could hear the faint hissing sound as the moisture in the air froze around her.

And standing there, with an expression that could only be described as "bored," was Marcus.

He'd materialized out of nowhere, because of course he had.

"You're always so impatient, sister," he drawled, his voice dripping with that signature Marcus condescension.

The ice around Victoria thickened, turning her into a rather grotesque, frosty sculpture.

"Patience is a virtue, especially when dealing with… unique individuals."

Just as Marcus finished his little villain monologue, the moonlight, which had been so obligingly full and bright, decided to be a total diva and dimmed.

Like someone had flicked a cosmic light switch.

The once - bright room was now plunged into semi - darkness, and the sudden loss of light made it hard to see clearly.

And with the fading moonlight, Lily's power—the wings, the fur, the general aura of "don't mess with me"—began to dissipate.

It was like watching a balloon deflate, only instead of sad party noises, there were whimpers of pain.

Lily could feel the energy leaving her body, like a gentle but insistent tug.

Marcus, ever the drama king, chose this moment to drop his little bombshell.

He leaned in close to Lily, his voice a low, hypnotic murmur.

"Lily, your mother… she sacrificed everything to seal away the Moonstone's power. Gave her life for it. A noble gesture, really." He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.

"Now… it's your turn."

Alexander, bless his eternally - supportive - but - slightly - out - of - his - depth heart, caught Lily as she swayed, her legs turning to jelly.

The last thing she saw, before the world went blurry, was Marcus's eyes.

And for a split second, they weren't their usual cold, calculating blue.

They were gold.

The same, blazing, terrifying gold as her own.

Then, the castle decided it had had enough.

With the moonlight gone, the ancient stones groaned, a deep, rumbling sound that echoed through the halls.

The stones cracked with a sharp, splitting sound, and in a truly spectacular display of architectural failure, began to collapse.

The dust rose in thick clouds, filling the air with a dry, earthy smell.

It was a full - blown, Hollywood - style implosion, dust and debris flying everywhere.

The debris crashed to the ground with a thunderous noise.

In the chaos of the collapsing castle, the dust was so thick that it made it hard to breathe.

The air was filled with the sound of crashing stones and the panicked cries of the characters.

Amidst this, everyone's phones pinged.

The sound of the pings was sharp and sudden, cutting through the chaos.

Simultaneously.

A text message.

Anonymous, of course.

The message was short, chillingly simple, and utterly insane: "Moonstone coordinates: Arctic Glacier."

As the dust from the castle collapse began to fade into nothing, Alexander gave Lily a grim look.

"Well," he declared flatly, "that escalated quickly."