“We're right by your side, Mara,” says Nora's voice in my head, comforting as ever.
“We're not leaving you, witchy.”
I nod, feeling a lot better with them by my side. I can almost feel Nora's gentle white aura surrounding me, probably shielding me while also trying to heal my body. I see Selena and the two other scary dark auras jumping all around us, probably defeating enemies invisible to my eyes... You're a poor excuse of a witch, Mara.
I turn my eyes back to Luna. I'm the only one who can see her, aren't I? She doesn't look bothered at all by everything going on around us, and I think she might be an illusion herself. After all, Luna the Wolf died centuries ago, this is merely her curse playing out and carrying her memory, her spirit... I need to get to the root of the curse and stop it. I probably already weakened it by revealing its true nature, but she's still standing like a hurricane in front of me, ready to strike again and blow us all away.
"You have to stop your curse, Luna," I insist. "It's been centuries now. It has to stop!"
"It won't," she says, looking strangely calm. "You've seen it. My curse will continue, and keep haunting the witches for all the harm they have caused our kind with their wretched greed... Once I kill you and your mate, I'll get stronger again, and the next generation will feel my wrath just like all the ones before!"
"For Moon Goddess' sake, killing me won't solve it! Snap out of it! You think you can survive eternally? If the curse lives on, so will the wolves and witches! There will be more love between them, even if you hate it! Wretched greed? It's just love, whether you'll admit it or not! You think you can stop people's feelings? You think you can love and replace it with fear or anger? With that stupid curse? Even if you keep cursing the witches, they won't stop trying to stop your madness, Luna. Another one like me will be born someday. And she will say the same thing to you, Luna. No... perhaps I am not the first?"
She frowns and glares at me, making me realize. I can't be the first witch-werewolf. This... This whole charade of hers, it's way too well done. I wonder how far the witches who tried to stop her got into her illusion, but I'll bet she showed them Luna the Witch's side, or she didn't even bother to enchant them at all. Like Ravena, she probably just used them like vessels and got rid of them as soon as she was done.
That whole number she did on me, though, it felt like she knew. She knew to put my mate's name on the tombstone, she wanted to let me feel what she felt...
"So that's right, Luna, isn't it?" I scoff, glad I made another point. "I am not the first to try and get to you, to stand before you like this. You've seen other witch-werewolf mixed girls like me. Did you make them go through it all as well, Luna? They had different names, different mates whose names you put on that tombstone. How did it go? Some failed, but some saw through it. I tell you, Luna. I understand why I was born now–"
"Enough! You're cursed, an abomination!"
"I'm a result you should have expected long ago!" I shout back. "Wolves and witches will keep falling in love, even if you kill me and my mate! Even if you get rid of me, you'll see many more Cursed Ones like me! We will bear the mark you put on us, and we will be the only ones to see through you, because we are just like you!"
"You know nothing!"
This time, the blast hits us right away. I barely see it before I'm thrown across the ground, feeling my body fly like dead weight. I hear growls and voices calling us, and my body violently hits the ground. Oh, shit... I grimace and roll on the other side, holding my painful ribs.
"Mara! Mara, are you alright, babe? Babe, talk to me!"
I feel his hands all over me, and he touches my flank, making it painful again without knowing. I growl.
"Liam, don't... Oh, Moon Goddess, give me a second... and hands off, I think my ribs are broken..."
"Oh, shit, sorry..."
I feel his hand move gently to my shoulder instead, the other under my head. I spit out some blood that was stuck in my mouth, and he helps me sit back up gently.
"Are you alright?" I ask, knowing he got blasted away too.
"Yeah, I landed upright..."
Better than me, then. He helps me up, gently holding me where he thinks it doesn't hurt. I hear him sigh before he gently kisses my temple. More like licks it, actually, and I turn to him, a bit confused.
"Sorry, but you got... blood…" he grimaces. "Damn, babe, you look ugly..."
I roll my eyes. Yeah, I mean I feel the blood dripping down at least five different spots on my head, and I feel like I just got run over by a truck, so I can imagine...
"Call me ugly again and I'll burn your ass..." I sigh.
"Noted. At least you still have some good burns... Is she still there?"
I look over his shoulder. Luna is still standing there indeed, but there is now a large space between us, and violent winds sweeping across the battlefield. I take a minute to look around, and the illusion is finally gone.
The battle has moved to be centered around us, with wolves everywhere fighting golems. It seems like the cracks in the ground don't break anymore; with the heavy rain that began pouring Moon Goddess knows when, we now have a wide mat of mud under our feet... No wonder I look like crap, after I rolled in that... Liam rubs his face with the back of his hand too, only spreading more mud. Is it a wolf thing that I don't find it that gross? It might even be a tad sexy to see him with that mess on his torso... I notice he's not completely fine and just dirty, though. There's blood clotted with the mud in some parts, and I feel bad for complaining when he visibly has tons of bruises too... I approach my hands to try and heal him, but he grabs my wrists.
"No touching and no healing, Mara, you need that magic!"
"What happened to you?" I grimace.
