CHAPTER 94: WAR

The moment I stepped through the portal, the world I loved punched me in the gut.

Smoke. Blood. Ash.

It hit me first in the nose, then in the throat, thick and suffocating, like the entire sky had been ripped open and poured sorrow into the land. The vibrant forests that once whispered songs to the wind were nothing but skeletons of charred trees. Rivers I used to wade through as a child steamed and hissed as if the very water was trying to escape this nightmare.

This was my home.

Or... what used to be.

My feet crunched over bones. Burned houses sagged like the broken ribs of fallen beasts. And far ahead, trailing like smudges of ink against the ruined horizon, I saw them.

Demon wolves.

Dozens of them.

I stood there, frozen, too angry to move, too heartbroken to breathe. I didn’t even notice Lucas and Lira stepping out of the portal behind me until I heard her gasp.

"Oh... no," she breathed, her voice trembling.

But I couldn’t look at her. Not now. Not with this burning inside my chest. I was breaking apart from the inside, one jagged edge at a time, splintering into sharp pieces that could only cut and destroy.

Lucas stepped closer, his voice hoarse. "Athena..."

I didn’t look at him either. He didn’t deserve it.

And then the demon wolves turned.

One of them snarled, tongue lolling from its jaws, glowing red eyes fixed on me like I was the last fresh meat in this ruined world.

Good.

Let them come.

They charged in unison, a black wave of claws, hunger, and madness, their jaws snapping open wide enough to tear through bone.

I lifted my hand.

The silver light erupted from me like a living flame. No words. No dramatic gesture. Just power—pure, ancient, and furious.

The first wolf disintegrated before it even got close. The second one screamed, long and high and awful, as the light shredded it mid-air. Another tried to dodge, smoke curling from its fur, but I spun and met it with a whip of moonfire, slicing it clean in half.

The rest slowed. Then stopped.

Their glowing eyes flickered with something like doubt. Fear. Good.

"This is my world," I whispered, fury thrumming through my bones. "And I will never let filth like you take it."

One lunged anyway, a desperate gamble.

I welcomed it.

One flick of my wrist, and it exploded into black ash that curled and fell softly to the ruined earth, like snow at the funeral of everything I’d ever loved.

The others fled, vanishing into the broken hills.

Cowards.

But it wasn’t enough. Not even close. My fists trembled with rage, my glow still pulsing with unused fury.

That’s when I saw it—the shredded banner of my people trampled into the mud. The symbol of the moon crest slashed, clawed, spat on.

I bent down, lifting it with shaking fingers.

This was what he’d done. What they had done.

Lucas moved behind me. "Athena..."

I stood, not turning.

Two shapes stumbled from behind a broken wall—wolves. My wolves. Starving, bleeding, one dragging a hind leg uselessly behind it. They stared at my glow with wide, terrified eyes, unable to recognize the goddess they used to pray to beneath full moons.

My heart cracked.

I knelt slowly. "No more hiding," I murmured, stretching my hand out. "No more fear."

The smaller one sniffed first, edging forward until its trembling muzzle brushed my fingertips. It whimpered softly. I could feel its hunger, its pain, its confusion. The bond between us reignited like embers catching flame.

I wanted to cry—but my anger burned the tears away.

Crunch.

Footsteps behind me.

Lira was silent at Lucas side, eyes filled with horror. She was still recovering, still fragile—but standing, awake, present.

I still didn’t turn.

"You helped him open the portal," I said flatly, voice dead. "You helped them do this."

"I did it to save...," he croaked, like that was supposed to make it right.

"To destroy my world."

His breath hitched. "I didn’t know."

"Don’t," I snapped. "Don’t you dare say you didn’t know."

For once, he stayed silent.

And then—howling.

It echoed in the distance, unnatural and sharp, like steel dragging across bone. The call of more demon wolves. More coming. More death.

I clenched my fists, silver light swirling under my skin like lightning waiting to break loose.

I was done.

Lira moved beside Lucas, her hand lightly brushing his sleeve, but her eyes were on me, terrified, as if she didn’t quite know whether I’d save her or destroy her next. I didn’t know either.

Lucas finally stepped to my side, shame in every line of his posture. "We can stop them."

"I don’t want we," I said coldly. "Not anymore."

The howling grew closer.

We all turned, watching as another wave of demon wolves stalked over the hills, moving like shadows cut loose from nightmares.

I raised my hands.

Silver flames bloomed outward in rings, perfect and terrifying. The power struck the first rank of demon wolves and they screamed, their bodies flaring into ash. The others followed, one by one, reduced to nothing but curling trails of smoke and sizzling bones.

I didn’t stop.

I wouldn’t stop until I had ripped this entire nightmare out of existence by its rotten roots.

When the last one fell, I stood there shaking, not from fear, but from restraint.

Lucas was watching me, pale, silent.

I finally turned to face him. "This is your fault."

He flinched but said nothing.

And then another sound broke through the crackling fire and ash—the distant screaming of my people. Wolves still alive, being hunted in the ruins of the city.

The palace.

He would be there.

I narrowed my eyes toward the heart of the capital city, where the black spires of my once-glorious palace stabbed up through the smoke like broken knives against the bruised sky.

"I’m going to the palace," I growled.

Lucas glanced at Lira, whose hand was now gripping his arm like she might break apart if she let go.

"I’m coming with you," he said softly.

"I don’t care."