Chapter 10: The Moon and the Ruins

Three days had passed since the battle at Zevarin.
The night sky of Nyxterra shimmered with violet stars, twinkling like the eyes of restless spirits. Behind the grandeur of the palace, the sound of hammers forging new weapons rang out, and the chants of soul-priests echoed from the ritual towers.
But among all that, in a recovery chamber surrounded by mana-enhancing crystals, Kalea Virein still lay motionless.
“Your wounds have healed, Your Majesty,” Elsera said softly. “But your soul... remains clouded.”
Kalea slowly opened her eyes. Her glowing violet gaze hadn't lost its strength, but within it, a fatigue deeper than magic lingered.
“I dreamed... of Earth,” she said. “Of Angeline... of my old body.”
Elsera said nothing. Some wounds cannot be mended by spells.

---
Meanwhile, Eiran stood on the palace balcony, staring toward the charred ruins of the black forest. In his hand was a small pendant—something Kalea had given him before they departed for Zevarin.
“You still love her, don’t you?”
The voice came from Vorthas, commander of the shadow guard.
Eiran nodded. “But it’s not just her I love. I love her pain, too.”
Vorthas remained silent for a moment. “If you vow to protect her, then prepare yourself. Her pain... will become a sea of blood.”

---
Deep within Nyxterra’s underground, a new ritual began.
Kalea, wearing her new cloak—woven from shadow and spirit bone—approached a white stone altar. Around her, four soul-priests held dark moon sigils.
Elsera lit the black flame.
“This pact... will strengthen your form. So that you may receive the true inheritance of the fox spirit.”
Kalea looked at her reflection in a silver bowl. Her silver-gold hair had grown longer, and behind her ears—two fluffy white fox tails slowly emerged.
“No more human body. No more Angeline.”
“Welcome back, Kalea Virein,” Elsera said. “The last Fox Queen.”

---
Meanwhile, in the Solvane Kingdom, nightmares spread.
King Alderion had fallen ill, and the dreams of his knights were haunted by dark whispers from the underworld.
“The shadows are moving,” said a royal sorcerer. “And a traitor has been reborn.”
In the eastern tower, a woman with blue hair stood within a sealed circle. Her hands trembled, her soul tethered to something from the past.
“Bring forth the promised vessel... The one who stands between light and darkness.”
A bolt of purple lightning tore through Solvane’s skies.

---
Back in Nyxterra, Kalea now sat on her obsidian throne with a renewed posture.
Her face no longer held doubt. She was no longer a wounded girl, but a queen who knew her power.
Eiran entered and bowed. “The shadow forces have been strengthened. The soul-training ritual succeeded.”
“And what of the scouting reports from the Murngard Valley?”
“There’s movement there. It appears they’re excavating something.”
Kalea narrowed her eyes.
“They’re trying to awaken an ancient weapon. We cannot allow it.”

---
That night, Kalea led her forces to strike Murngard. Once a holy temple, it was now a pit of darkness guarded by light-bound golems.
Battle erupted. Kalea, wreathed in violet fox aura, danced among the ruins with lethal grace.
Eiran fought beside her, his sword glowing with both shadow and light. Together, they were unstoppable.
At the heart of Murngard, they saw it:
A massive crystal chamber... containing a sleeping girl.
“Who is she?” Eiran whispered.
Kalea stepped forward. “That... is no ordinary human. She is a vessel.”
“For what?”
Kalea clenched her teeth.
“For the part of me that was lost.”

---
The girl slowly opened her eyes.
Blue eyes.
Gentle. Human.
And as Kalea touched the crystal glass, memories flooded her:
—School corridors.
—Laughter filled with cruelty.
—That final rooftop jump.
“Angeline...” Eiran whispered.
But Kalea stepped back. “She is no longer me.”
The chamber began to crack, and the girl opened her mouth.
“I... want to live.”

---
Kalea turned to Elsera, who had arrived silently.
“Separate her. Let her live... without my shadow.”
Elsera bowed. “There will be consequences.”
“I know.”
And with a single chant, Kalea split her soul.
The shadow remained with the Fox Queen. The light... flowed into the new Angeline.
As the glow spread, Kalea fell to her knees.
Eiran caught her, trembling.
“You gave up half your soul.”
Kalea smiled faintly.
“Because that half... still believes in goodness.”

---
In the night sky, two moons now glowed.
One violet.
One blue.
And a new age... began to unfold.