Luna. Chapter 90

(Lyra's POV)

"Selene, thank God you came."

The witch Victor had contacted looked nothing like I'd expected. She was young, maybe thirty, with short dark hair and practical clothes. But her eyes held an ancient knowledge that made me trust her immediately.

She knelt beside Asher, placing her hands on his forehead. "How long has he been unconscious?"

"Twenty minutes. Maybe longer." My voice was shaking. "Something possessed him. It spoke through him, attacked me, then he just collapsed."

Selene's expression grew grave. "This isn't a simple possession."

"What do you mean?"

"There's a soul fragment attached to his energy signature. Something old and powerful that's been feeding off his abilities for weeks."

My heart sank. "Can you remove it?"

"Maybe. But you need to understand what we're dealing with." She looked up at me with serious eyes. "This isn't just a random spirit. It's a conscious entity that's been deliberately targeting your son."

"Targeting him how?"

"Soul binding. Someone created a bridge between your son's consciousness and this malevolent spirit. They've been slowly merging their energies together."

"For how long?"

"Based on the level of integration I'm sensing? Months."

I felt sick. "Will he survive the removal?"

"That depends on how strong his own spiritual defenses are. And how much of his original soul is still intact."

Victor stepped forward from where he'd been hovering anxiously by the door. "What do you need from us?"

"A transfer ritual. We need to move the attached soul fragment to something else, something that can contain it without being destroyed."

"Like what?"

Selene pulled a small leaf from her bag. It was silver-green and seemed to glow with its own inner light. "Dragon's breath leaf. It can absorb spiritual energy without being corrupted by it."

"And then?"

"Then we destroy the leaf and hope we got all of it."

I looked down at Asher's pale face. "What if we don't? What if some of it stays attached to him?"

"Then it will continue to grow stronger until it completely overwrites his personality." Selene's voice was gentle but honest. "He'll become something else entirely."

The room fell silent except for Asher's shallow breathing.

"When do we do it?" I asked.

"Now. The longer we wait, the more integrated the fragments become."

I nodded, fear and determination warring in my chest. "What do I need to do?"

"Everything."