All Chapters of The Luna With Ruin: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Cassian's magic filled the tomb like it was a living thing.Red energy poured from his hands into the coffin, spiraling around Damoew's body. The scorched symbol on his neck glowed brighter and brighter until Jasmina had to look away."How much longer?" Lyanna asked, her hand on her knife."Five minutes. Maybe less." Sweat dripped down Cassian's face. "The spell is fighting back. It wants to stay locked."The tomb shook. Dust rained from the ceiling. One of the stone coffins cracked down the middle."Cassian…" Jasmina warned."I know. I know." His voice strained. "Just hold on."The glass lid of Damoew's coffin started to splinter. Cracks spread across the surface like a spiderweb. The magic around Cassian turned from red to white-hot.Then the glass shattered.The explosion of magical energy knocked Jasmina backward. She hit a wall, her vision blurring. Lyanna shouted something she couldn't hear.When the light faded, Cassian was on his knees, breathing hard. The coffin stood open an

The memories came back in fragments. Damoew was lying in the cave, trying to rest, when the first one hit.*He was twelve years old, standing in the training yard. A woman approached him. Pretty. Dark hair. Smiling.**"Hello, Damoew. Your father sent me to teach you strategy."**"I already have tutors."**"Not like me." She touched his forehead. Magic burned through his skull. "You'll do what I say. Always."**"I'll do what you say. Always."**The woman smiled. "Good boy."*---Damoew gasped, the memory fading. That woman. She'd looked different, but the eyes were the same.Arlene.She'd been there since he was twelve. Not as herself. Disguised. Different face. Different name. But the same person.Another memory surfaced.---*Nineteen years old. Standing in the Alpha's office. His father had just died. The burden of leadership crushing him.**Arlene appeared in the doorway. Looking like herself now. "You seem stressed."**"Everyone wants something from me. I can't think straight."**

Arlene stood in her ritual chamber, surrounded by books that should never have been opened.The forbidden texts. The ones even her mother had been afraid to use. The mass sacrifice magic.She traced the symbols on the ancient pages. Fifty deaths. That's what the alternative ritual required. Fifty wolves killed simultaneously, their life force channeled directly into the vault seal.It wasn't elegant. It wasn't the original plan. But it would work.And tomorrow's memorial service would provide exactly fifty attendees."Are you sure about this?" Cassian's voice came through her communication mirror.Arlene didn't bother looking up. She knew that mirror showed an empty chamber. Cassian had betrayed her. Helped them steal Damoew's body.But she'd kept this mirror active anyway. Set a tracking spell on it. Wherever Cassian was, she'd know."I know you can hear me, traitor," she said calmly. "I know you're with them. Lyanna. Jasmina. My failed puppet."Static crackled through the mirror."D

Pre-dawn light filtered through the trees as they returned to the memorial platform.Jasmina carried parchment and charcoal. They needed to document the ritual circles. Proof that even Jetstar couldn't ignore.Cassian would return with Meredith in a few hours. Until then, they had to gather evidence."How do we make the symbols visible?" Theo asked."Magic." Damoew knelt beside the platform edge. His strength was coming back faster now. Whatever the death stasis had done, his body was fighting through it. "Cassian showed us how last night. I think I can replicate it.""You're not strong enough for magic yet," Lyanna warned."I'm strong enough to try."He placed both hands on the stone. His eyes closed. Concentration lined his face.For a moment, nothing happened.Then faint light began seeping through cracks in the stone. Red at first, then darker. Purple-black like old blood.The ritual circles appeared. Dozens of them. Overlapping patterns that covered the entire platform."Goddess,

Arlene stood in her chambers, watching the mirror that tracked Cassian's location.She'd known he'd betrayed her the moment he broke Damoew's stasis spell. The tracking magic had alerted her instantly.But instead of anger, she felt satisfaction."Predictable," she murmured.They thought they were being clever. Sneaking back to the packhouse. Finding Hardy's body. Discovering the ritual circles.Let them find it all.She'd planned for this. Prepared for resistance. In fact, she was counting on it.The mirror showed Cassian standing near the memorial platform. Beside him, an old woman drew symbols in silver ash.Meredith Ashborn. The ancient witch who'd survived her mother's purge."A counter-ritual," Arlene said aloud. "How creative."She pulled out her mother's journal. Flipped to a marked page. Read the passage she'd memorized years ago.*"If the enemy prepares a counter-ritual, let them. It will consume their focus, their resources, their time. While they work to stop one plan, you