Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 534

Dawnstrike

"She should be dead," The delta healing the Luna croaked, tears slipping free. "Her body has been through so much trauma, any other person would have died ten times over," She continued her spiel, her brows crinkled as she concentrated. "But her soul is tethered tight to the goddess knows what. She is a tank. But she has gone through so much. Her body will give in if this goes on."

Gallinti could tell that after all the hours of healing and having to pull Eve again and again from the brink, it was getting to her. There was an edge of panic in her voice and fragile hope as the battle carried on just outside the tent.

Darius who had pronounced himself as Malrik, though Gallinti was not sure just how much he wanted to believe from the tyrannical bastard, had regrouped his forces and the battle had commenced minutes after the light of the fiery woman had gone out.

Even with the deltas from the other divisions now concentrated here, Gallinti's optimism was dwindling and it would not be long until it would snuffed out like the bright, burning light of the woman who had come to save them.

The Luna was still as the deltas worked their magic on her body. Gallinti could see bones jutting out from her wolf form at odd angles, her legs having needed to be righted after the fall, and still—from what the deltas had checked—her pups remained protected.

According to them, if the pups had been bigger it would have been a different issue altogether, but their size had ensured that Eve was able to keep them cushioned.

Small mercies in a sea of horror.

Gallinti turned away from the makeshift medical station, his jaw tight, and surveyed what remained of his forces. Exhaustion lined every face. Blood soaked through bandages that should have been changed hours ago but couldn't be, not with supplies running this low. Wolves who should have been resting were being dragged back to the front lines because there was no one else left to hold them.

They were losing ground.

Slowly. Inevitably. Despite everything they'd fought for, despite the sacrifices already made, they were losing, and even if they won it would be a pyrrhic victory. Malrik was alive and well with the Chalyx backing him. Even when obviously afraid and mortally injured, his army would rise at this command.

Obsidian did not have that, injured gammas could not simply ignore the pain and force their body into motion. It was not possible.

Even the ones still scorched but still had arms enough to drag themselves would move to attack, bite an ankle or two.

At the other side of the medic tent, the charred figure had been laid there, her chest still moving just half an inch at a time. It made no sense then again, prime feral, mutant plants and awakened vampires, nothing in this war had made any sense to begin with so why would they decide to follow the laws of logic now.

The delta with her, tried and failed to make any progress even as she still breathed.

A commotion outside the tent made him turn as Kael ran in again to check on Eve, Gallinti supposed.

He entered panting, looking between the two unconscious figures in the tent. "How the hell did she get here," He whispered, facing the blackened form now.

Gallinti glanced at the dying figure. "Do you know her?"

Kael pressed his comm, "We are about to find out if I am right,"

He spoke when the connection was made, blood dripping down his brow. "Cain, is Ellem—"

He did not get to complete his question, his brow snapping up into his hairline as Gallinti could hear Cain's voice even from the distance he stood. He was being loud, panicking, Gallinti suspected.

"What do you mean she just vanished?" Kael demanded.

He let Cain speak before he let out a sigh and swallowed, running his hand over his face. "What was her condition before—no listen—I said fucking listen—I SAID FUCKING LISTEN TO ME!" He growled. "She was holding back the bloodmoon's radiation, that was the plan, what happened to her, Cain. What condition was she in?"

A loaded pause.

Gallinto caught the muffled reply and Kael's eyes went wide. "What the hell do you mean that Ellen absorbed the bloodmoon's radiation?"

Gallinti straightened instantly, his eyes darting to the incinerated body.

When Cain was done speaking, he too looked at the body. "It looks like we found her or more so Ellen found us. She is Dawnstrike in bad—shape." He gulped, pity filtering into his expression.

The silence on the other end was deafening.

Then Cain's voice came through, raw and broken. "Is she alive?"

Gallinti heard it fully now.

Kael looked at the charred figure, at the barely perceptible rise and fall of what remained of her chest. "Barely."

"I'm coming—"

"No." Kael's voice was hard. "You stay at Aegis with the civvies. That's an order. We don't know if—"

The connection cut.

Kael stared at the comm for a moment, then let out a string of curses. "Fuck. He's going to—" He shook his head, then looked at Gallinti. "Doesn't matter. He can't get here fast enough anyway."

Gallinti moved closer to the blackened form. No skin. Barely any flesh. Just charred bone and the impossible reality of a heart still beating somewhere inside that ruined chest. "The fiery woman. Ellen Valmont."

"She burned herself alive to save us." Kael's voice was hollow.

A delta approached, hands already glowing with healing magic. She stopped when she saw the damage. Her face went pale. "I don't—where do I even—" Her voice cracked. "There's nothing left to heal."

Outside, the battle continued. Screams. Claws tearing through flesh. Ferals snarling. The ground shook with Prime Feral footfalls.

Then something shifted.

Kael's head snapped up. His hand went to his comm. Static. Voices flooding in, overlapping, panicked.

"—forces just stopped—"

"—Prime Feral shifted mid-attack—"

"—running everywhere, no formation—"

"—what's happening, what do we—"

Kael looked at Gallinti. "The horn. Hades must have gotten the horn."

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