Reign of the Forsaken Moon - Chapter 71: Chapter 71

The challenge came at dawn.
Windrest woke to horns echoing through the valley, solemn and ancient. The skies turned grey, not with rain—but with reckoning. At the heart of the palace courtyard, wolves gathered in silence, their gazes pulled toward one figure stepping forward beneath the crimson standard of the Western Claw.
High Commander Arden.
His armor was blackened steel, etched with old glyphs from before Seraphina’s first rise. His voice rang across the courtyard as he invoked the rite.
“By sacred law, I, Arden of the Western Claw, challenge Luna Seraphina of the Twice-Born Flame for rule. On grounds of fractured soul, prophetic uncertainty, and unlawful inclusion of Echo-born entities into royal trust.”
Gasps rippled.
Seraphina stepped from the palace doors, every inch the queen—regal, unyielding, radiant.
Her voice was calm.
“By the law of our ancestors, I accept.”
The Arena of Judgment
The Arena of Judgment was carved into the base of the Moonrise Cliffs—an ancient ring of stone, laced with silver runes and drenched in the blood of fallen leaders. No magic was allowed. No interference. Only truth through steel and fang.
As Seraphina stood at the edge, Darian took her hand.
“You don’t have to do this alone.”
“I do,” she said softly, meeting his eyes. “That’s the law.”
Kael stepped forward. “This rite hasn't been invoked in over three centuries.”
“And if I refuse,” Seraphina asked, “what happens?”
“He takes the throne,” Kael replied grimly. “And your legacy is undone.”
Behind her, Sira—still healing—watched with clenched fists. Ashen wept silently. Serai said nothing, but her presence was thunderous.
Seraphina entered the ring.
The Duel Begins
Arden drew his blade—a massive greatsword wrapped in bone and old iron.
Seraphina summoned her twin sabers—gifted by the Flame Mother herself.
The bell rang.
He lunged.
The first clash shook the arena, steel screaming as blade met blade. Arden fought like a warrior possessed—heavy, brutal, unrelenting. Seraphina moved like flame—evasive, surgical, sharp.
“You’ve diluted the throne!” Arden roared. “Brought shadow and copy to poison our future!”
“I am the future,” Seraphina snapped, slashing low.
They broke apart, both bleeding.
Arden’s voice twisted into a growl. “You’re a ghost of what you were. A broken spirit clinging to lies.”
Seraphina’s eyes flared violet.
“You haven’t seen what a broken spirit can survive.”
The Turning Point
Arden lunged again, but Seraphina sidestepped, striking his shoulder.
He roared and shifted partially—fangs and claws emerging.
Gasps rose.
“You break the sacred rule,” Kael shouted from the sidelines.
The judges hesitated.
Seraphina held her blades. “Let him shift.”
The crowd went still.
“I’ll end this with all of him,” she declared.
Arden became a beast of steel and sinew, eyes glowing gold.
And Seraphina… burned.
Flames erupted along her arms, controlled and sharp—an echo of her inner power tempered by clarity. She didn’t shift. She rose.
And when their blades met again, it was no longer a duel.
It was a reckoning.
A Queen’s Will
Blow after blow, Seraphina pushed him back.
“You fear me because I changed,” she growled. “Because I evolved.”
Clang.
“You fear my Echoes because they are me. My sorrow. My fury. My fate.”
Clang.
“You fear that I don’t need your permission to rule!”
She disarmed him with a scream and drove her saber to his throat.
The arena was silent.
Blood dripped from her blade.
But she did not strike.
“Yield,” she said.
Arden stared up at her, panting.
And lowered his eyes.
“I yield.”
After the Storm
As Seraphina stepped out of the arena, the court bowed.
Darian met her with fierce relief. “You didn’t just win—you proved yourself.”
Ashen ran to her, hugging her tightly.
Sira knelt, her head bowed in awe.
And Serai?
She approached with the Ember Codex in her hands.
“There’s more,” she whispered. “The prophecy wasn’t just about the third birth.”
“What else?” Seraphina asked, her body trembling from exhaustion.
Serai opened the book, revealing the final verse.
“Only one flame may burn eternal. To ascend, the Luna must choose which of her reflections to keep… and which to release to the stars.”