THE CURSE OF MORRIGAN
The nights grew colder in the Realm of Ancients, not from weather, but from the mounting weight of memory. The deeper Luna trained under Solana, the more she touched a past that refused to stay buried.
It began with a vision.
Luna stood in a vast hall carved from moonstone, shadows flickering across polished floors. Ancient tapestries fluttered without wind, each embroidered with a single moment in history. One showed Morrigan, not as a villain, but as a sister standing beside Solana.
Once, they were allies.
Morrigan had been a Moonblood too.
"I chose her," Solana admitted as they walked together past the tapestries. "She was powerful. Brave. And afraid."
"Afraid of what?" Luna asked.
Solana touched one tapestry: Morrigan, kneeling before the Moon Goddess.
"Of being forgotten. Of being powerless. She craved permanence. Legacy."
Luna stared at the fabric threads that shimmered like silver fire. "And you let her fall?"
"I let her choose."
That night, Luna couldn't sleep. She wandered the temple ruins until she reached the Moon Pool. A mirror-like lake at the heart of the Realm, it reflected not just the sky but the soul.
She knelt by the edge and asked the only question she hadn't dared voice:
"What if I make the same choice?"
The water stirred.
A shape emerged—her reflection, only older, wiser and her eyes weren't silver. They were black.
"You won't," Asher said from behind her, his voice low. "Because you're not her."
Luna looked over her shoulder. "What if the curse didn't come from Morrigan? What if it came from the choice Solana gave her?"
He knelt beside her. "Then we make better choices."
The following days were filled with lessons in origin magic. Rae practiced elemental control with Nyla, turning air into blades. Brin learned to commune with ancient spirits. Kael deciphered glyphs buried in hidden ruins that spoke of a final gate—one only the true Moonblood could open.
The Gate of Judgment.
It lay beyond the Crystal Expanse, guarded by the Echo Beast, a creature said to feed on the echoes of one's past failures.
They set out at dawn.
The Crystal Expanse was breathtaking. Frozen rivers gleamed like starlight. Trees grew upside down, roots exposed to the open air, leaves shimmering with frostfire. But the beauty belied the danger.
Halfway through the Expanse, the Echo Beast found them.
It didn't roar. It whispered.
To Rae: "You let your brother die." To Brin: "You healed your enemies and let your Alpha bleed." To Kael: "Your mind is sharp, but your heart is dull." To Nyla: "You loved Morrigan once." To Asher: "You left her when she needed you most."
And to Luna:
"You are her. You will fail."
The whispers became screams.
The group fell to their knees, clutching heads, breathing ragged. Only Luna remained standing, though tears streamed from her eyes.
"No," she whispered. "I'm not Morrigan. I'm not your echo."
The beast rose—ten feet tall, covered in shifting shadows. It lunged.
Luna stepped forward and unleashed her power.
Light blinding, cleansing, fierce erupted from her chest.
The beast screamed as its form unraveled into silver ash. The whispers faded. Her friends stood, shaken but alive.
"That was the final test," Solana said as she appeared behind them, her form ghostlike. "You've faced the past. Now, you may face the truth."
They reached the Gate of Judgment.
Carved into a mountainside, the gate pulsed with energy. Inscribed across its surface were the names of every Moonblood that came before Luna.
Solana turned to her. "Beyond this gate lies the source of Morrigan's fall. The root of the curse. Enter alone."
Luna looked to Asher, then her friends. Each gave her a nod.
She stepped through.
Darkness swallowed her.
Then fire.
Then memory.
She stood in a throne room. Not hers. Morrigan's.
A younger Solana argued with a defiant Morrigan. They were sisters not by blood, but by bond.
"You can't take it," Solana said.
"I must," Morrigan replied. "The Moon's power fades. We need more."
"You seek dominion. Not balance."
"I seek freedom."
Luna watched as Morrigan drank from a chalice made of onyx. Her body convulsed. Wings tore from her back. Horns burst from her skull. Her silver eyes turned black.
She had fused with Shadow Magic.
The memory shifted. Luna stood now before a tree—the Origin Tree. Its branches touched stars. Its roots buried in every pack's soul.
Morrigan had poisoned it.
The curse was not a single act. It was a corruption—a choice repeated through generations, seeded in fear.
Luna felt it in her bones.
To break the curse, you must give something in return.
A voice echoed. The Moon Goddess.
Your power. Your bond. Your past. Choose one.
Luna's breath caught.
Her power defined her now. Her bond with Asher had just begun to heal. Her past… it was her pain, her strength.
She chose.
"I give you my past."
A silence followed.
Are you certain?
"If it means saving our kind. Yes."
Light exploded.
When she woke, she was outside the gate. Asher rushed to her. She stared at him, eyes wide.
"I… who are you?"
His face crumpled. "Luna?"
Solana approached. "She remembers nothing of the pain. Of Morrigan. Of the bond. She is reborn. But at a cost."
Asher turned to her, voice rough. "You knew this would happen."
Solana nodded. "And so did she. She made her choice."
Luna looked at them all, then to the moon.
It felt warm.
Safe.