The Banished Shy Luna Chapter 178

The creature I’d freed.

The creature that swore to kill the Elders for me.

Before I could say anything—

The Aura Seeker machine screeched to life.

A violent metallic clang cracked through the chamber, followed by blinding light shooting up its metal spire.

Elder Thora spun around. “WHAT—?! MASON!”

Mason threw his hands up. “I didn’t touch it—!”

Runes flared over the machine like veins igniting with fire.

The Aura Seeker locked onto its target.

Me.

“Oh shit—” I whispered.

Then the machine roared—

BOOM.

A shockwave ripped through the chamber.

Chairs toppled.

Lanterns shattered.

Guards flew backward like dolls thrown by a tantruming god.

Toren shoved me down behind a pillar.

Tyson and Douglas were slammed into a wall.

The twins screamed but held their ground.

The ground vibrated—

Then violently lurched.

A new sound boomed up from the floor.

Not human.

Not mechanical.

Alive.

The stone beneath the Council table splintered.

Toren grabbed my shoulders. “Kira—something’s coming—”

“DOWN!” Tyson shouted.

The marble floor erupted.

A jagged seam of blackness split the chamber like the earth itself was cracking open, and then—

It climbed out.

The creature.

Ten feet tall.

Hairless.

Bone-white.

Eyes burning silver.

Still wearing iron shackles radiating dark magic.

Blood smeared its claws.

Elder blood.

It lifted its head—

Saw me—

And immediately lowered itself to one knee.

The Chamber went dead silent.

“What… the hell…” Toren whispered.

Tyson inhaled sharply. “It’s bowing to her.”

Enforcers didn’t wait.

They rushed forward, screaming.

The creature rose.

And slaughtered them.

One swipe crushed a man’s chest.

One hurl sent a wolf skidding across the room.

One roar shattered the warding spells on the walls.

The Elders panicked.

“CONTAIN IT!”

“KILL IT!”

“HALVAR AND VARRICK ARE DEAD—IT KILLED THEM—”

“STOP IT—STOP IT—!”

The Aura Seeker continued to overload, runes glowing brighter, runes exploding in sparks as the machine devoured more magic.

The Chamber groaned.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling.

The floor shook.

The creature stepped forward—but not toward them.

Toward me.

I braced myself.

Talon grabbed my arm. “Firefly—don’t even breathe—"

Tyson stepped slightly in front of me. “Back the hell up, you demon—"

The creature lowered its head further.

And spoke inside my skull.

“Ancient One. Command me.”

My pulse jolted.

Before I could answer—

The Aura Seeker reached critical.

Light exploded outward in a violent flare, blinding, shredding wards, searing the air like a star going nova.

Mason screamed, “EVERYONE MOVE—IT’S GOING TO BLOW—”

But there was no time.

The entire world went white.

BOOOOOOM!

Stone shattered.

Ceiling collapsed.

The ground caved in beneath us.

Screams were swallowed by the explosion.

Something slammed into my side—I didn’t know who.

Dust filled my lungs.

The world tilted.

Everything fell.

And then—

Darkness.

Echoing.

Ringing.

Silence.

…

A distant voice reached through the fog.

“Ancient One… rise…”

I gasped awake, rubble shifting around me as dust drifted through the air like ash after a wildfire.

The chamber was unrecognizable—walls collapsed, ceiling torn open, smoke and glow-wisps floating through broken lanterns.

I pushed myself upright, coughing, blinking through the haze.

“Toren?”

“Tyson?!”

“Talon—!”

No answer.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

I staggered to my feet, tripping over broken stone, until the creature stepped out of the dust—towering, monstrous—

…and bowed again.

“You live,” it said. “Good. The hunt is not finished.”

“What… what did you do?” I rasped.

“Only what you commanded.”

“I didn’t command this!”

It tilted its head.

“You freed me.”

I swallowed hard, shaking.

“You said you would kill the Elders.”

Its eyes glowed brighter.

“And I will. Only two remain.”

My skin prickled—

Because in the distance, beneath the rubble…

I heard someone else screaming.

And not in pain.

In rage.

Elder Thora.

She was still alive.

And she was coming.

“YOU FILTHY ABOMINATION!”

The creature stiffened.

Every hair on my arms stood on end.

Elder Thora stepped out of the smoke like a living nightmare—her robes torn, her silver-white hair wild, her eyes glowing cold and bright like frostbitten stars.

She was bleeding.

Bruised.

Enraged.

But alive.

Her gaze locked instantly on the creature kneeling in front of me.

“HOW DARE YOU RAISE YOUR HEAD IN MY PRESENCE!” Thora shrieked, voice cutting through the rubble like a blade. “YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL MY COUNCIL?!”

The creature rose to full height—bones cracking, claws flexing, chains rattling. It let out a low, guttural roar and stepped forward.

“That is enough,” Thora growled.

And then—

She moved.

One flash of silver.

One sweep of her hand.

A ripple of raw power exploded from her palm—

SHHHKKRRRRR!

The creature staggered.

Cracked.

Split—

and shattered like stone struck by lightning.

Fragments of its body flew across the room, collapsing into dust and blackened bone. Its roar died mid-sound, like someone had cut the world in half.

Silence hit me like a punch.

My heart stopped.

The creature—my creature—was gone.

Not defeated.

Erased.

Thora stood over the pile of dust, chest heaving, hands trembling with the remnants of the spell she’d cast.

Then—

Slowly.

Deliberately.

She turned toward me.

Her eyes were ice incarnate.

Unblinking.

Predatory.

Ancient.

A smile crawled across her mouth—thin, sharp, humorless.

“Well,” she said softly, voice dripping venom, “it’s about time you finally came to your senses.”

The words slithered across the destroyed chamber like poison.

I forced air into my lungs. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

She stepped toward me, stepping over debris, glass shards crunching under her boots.

“You think I haven’t been waiting for this?” she hissed. “You think I haven’t been preparing for you?”

I backed up a step—instinctive, unwanted—but the energy rolling off her hit me like a winter storm.

Thora smiled wider.

“You freed a creature bound by Elder magic. You commanded it without even speaking the ancient words. And then…”

Her eyes flicked to the ruin around us.

“You survived that.”

She gestured at the collapsed chamber.

“As you should. As you were designed to.”

I flinched. “Designed?”

“Come now, child,” she sighed. “Don’t play dumb. You were never supposed to be a pack wolf. You were never supposed to mate with those… Alphas.”

Venom dripped from the word.

“You were born for higher purpose. For our purpose.”

My skin crawled.

I swallowed hard. “I’m not yours.”

“No,” she murmured, stepping closer, “but you will be.”