Chapter 111: _ Moon Blesseds Vs. Demons
~Heidi’s Point Of View~
Chaos doesn’t creep in... it detonates.
The scream that never finished is still echoing when the mate girl’s body drops, and then all hell is let loose.
One moment there’s that grotesque heart in pale claws, still twitching like it hasn’t figured out it’s homeless, and the next, white-robed figures ambush. Mouths split too wide and hands elongate into spears.
The Moon Blessed don’t even process it at first. They’re deer caught in headlights, still blinking at the impossible, and by the time their brains catch up, bodies are already dropping.
A boy Heidi doesn’t know is torn sideways, ribs cracking like snapped pencils. A girl with braids shrieks, cut off midway as her throat blossoms red. Screams, gasps, the awful wet sound of flesh meeting claws—it’s... It’s a chorus of horror.
At least eighteen Moon Blessed are down before anyone moves.
Heidi’s lungs rip open with her own yell. The first instinct that crashes into her like a bulldozer is: movement. They need to defend themselves fast or they will all die here. It is in this moment that she realizes how much that moment spent with Amias would come in handy.
Now, she can’t help but thank him for digressing from sexuality to training her last night.
"Stick together!" Her voice scrapes raw as she shoves Junie and Val closer to her. "If your wolf is awake, everyone, shift! Now! With me!"
Her wolf is already clawing at the door, begging to be let loose.
The Alpha Boy immediately bellows in agreement. "You heard her! Shift! Wolves to the front!" His hands clench into fists as he readies himself, his Alpha aura pressing on the crowd like a command.
But the Moon Blessed’s answers are a sore to the ears. "We don’t know how!" someone screams.
Another wails, "My wolf isn’t answering!"
For a split second, Heidi feels herself break. They don’t know how. Of course they don’t. They were tossed into this labyrinth like lambs, untrained, unshifted, and unready. They are all literally sitting ducks.
The demons don’t wait for them to figure it out. Another girl is dragged screaming into the crowd, her nails leaving bloody streaks against the shining floor.
Heidi’s chest heaves. Panic claws her ribs. Her wolf snarls in her skull furiously.
"They are not fast enough or strong enough. We’re going to lose them all."
Heidi turns to Val and Junie, only to see the fear in their eyes. She heaves rapidly, feeling the weight of the leadership role no one bestowed on her settle.
What to do? What to do? She panics. And then, almost immediately, she lets out a sigh before she even realizes she’s saying it. "Moon Goddess! HELP US! WE NEED YOU!"
It’s a scream and a demand. A prayer drenched in blood and desperation. She doesn’t even understand what she’s doing, but she can feel her wolf underneath, pushing and prodding her into acting out.
Funnily, something answers.
The labyrinth quakes.
A thunderous crack tears through the air. Light that isn’t sunlight, or firelight, but something ethereal and wild strikes down. It blasts through the ceilingless sky like lightning dipped in silver.
Heidi gasps. Energy scorches through her veins in the most electrifying, holy, and terrifying way. Her skin burns and bones snap. Her vision goes white out.
Then her skin rips.
Black and white bursts across her vision. Her wolf takes charge, letting her jaw elongate. Claws slash free. The floor tilts, then steadies as her four paws hit the ground.
Her white beast with those otherworldly black stripes is an impossible beast, born for this nightmare. However, she’s not alone in the transformation game. Around her, at least fifteen more students convulse as their screams turn to howls. Fur bursts out of them and their bones crack. Wolves hit the floor with snarls of their own.
They’re alive. They’re fighters, gifted by the Moon Goddess herself. However, there is no time to celebrate their first shift.
The nearest demon pounces on them, blood still dripping from its hand. Heidi meets it mid-air, jaws snapping around its throat. Cartilage and sinew crunch between her teeth in one vicious twist, and the head tears free, spraying black ichor across the ground.
The taste is acidic, burning her tongue. But the rush—the power of it... nearly blinds her.
Junie screams beside her. Val shrieks too, both of them are still human, surprisingly. Now, they are cornered.
No, no, no. Not them!
Heidi pivots, striped fur bristling, and rips into another demon just before its claws can slash Junie’s face.
Her wolf roars: "I told you, Heidi! This is what we were made for!"
Junie’s hands are trembling, raised in front of her like they could maybe stop claws with glitter nail polish and a bad attitude. But then, as she spits the last ichor out of her mouth...
"HEIDI!" Val screams.
Heidi whirls in time to see a demon shooting some kind of spear it tore from its own flesh at her. It’s way too sudden. She can’t duck in time. Her paws slip in blood as she tries.
Junie raises her hand, screaming, "NO!"
And light explodes.
A translucent shield bursts from her outstretched hands, curving like glass, and snapping into place around the three of them. It’s faintly blue, glowing with power. The demon slams against it, screeching as her claws skitter across the surface.
Inside, Junie stands frozen, eyes huge, and chest heaving. Her arms shake, palms still out like she doesn’t even know what she just did.
Val gasps so loud, Heidi could laugh at her face if it wasn’t for the ugly situation they are all in. "Holy—Junie! You—you have powers!"
Junie blinks at her own hands. "I... what the—what even is this?!"
Val is already laughing in relief. "A SHIELD. YOU HAVE A SHIELD. Girl, you’re like... like Captain America but hotter!"
If Heidi could talk, she’d be screaming with them. But all she can do is snarl approval in her head, tail lashing. Pride bursts in her chest. Junie did it. She’s not helpless. She’s...
However, the world outside the shield crashes in again.
Beyond the shield, it’s a massacre. Wolves clash with demons, fur against claws, snarls against shrieks. But they’re outnumbered. The wolves are new and inexperienced. Their attacks are clumsy. For every demon killed, five more Moon Blessed fall.
Blood paints the shining floor red. Screams curdle the air.
No, no, no! They can’t lose like this! Heidi internally bellows. She slams her body against the barrier, snarling. Her howl shakes the shield. Let me OUT.
Junie flinches. "What? What do you want?"
"She wants out!" Val’s voice cracks. She presses her hands against the glowing barrier. "Junie, let her out!"
Junie’s face twists. "Are you insane? We’re safe in here! If we just—if we just wait, maybe..."
Val whirls on her, eyes blazing. "Safe? SAFE?! Look out there, Junie! Do you want to sit here hiding while everyone else dies?!"
Junie’s breath stutters. "I—I can’t..."
Val grips her shoulders hard, shaking her. "Then I’ll hold you up. But let Heidi out. You and I, we’ll protect the helpless ones. But she needs to fight."
Junie chokes, glancing at the bodies piling outside, and her hands tremble harder. "I can’t—I can’t hold it forever anyway!"
Outside, Moon Blesseds who saw the shield are already slamming fists against it, screaming. "LET US IN! PLEASE! HELP!"
Their voices break with terror. Blood streaks their hands and their faces are streaked with tears and gore.
Junie sobs, unwilling to drop the one thing that is protecting her from getting killed, but she doesn’t have a choice in this case. After five seconds of hesitation, she lowers her hands. The shield flickers, then splits just wide enough for Heidi to leap through.
Instantly, she explodes back into the bloodbath, fangs snapping into the first demon that charges her. Ichor sprays across her muzzle. She swings her body, slamming another into the wall, bones cracking like fireworks.
Behind her, Val’s voice rises. "Moon Blessed! Gather here! Junie can shield you... MOVE YOUR ASSES IF YOU WANNA LIVE!"
Heidi tears into another demon, her paws slick with blood now. Around her, wolves are falling, ripped open, or with twisted limbs. Their howls turn to death wails.
Her heart shatters with every one.
Junie is shaking, arms raised, struggling to reform the shield for the cluster of terrified Moon Blessed huddling close. Her knees are wobbling. Sweat drips down her temple.
"Come on, Junie, hold it..." Val begs.
The shield flickers on and off as Junie has already used up the power boost the Moon Goddess bestowed upon her untrained self.
Alas! It’s too late!
A blur of white silk and claws is what they see before a demon leaps, shrieking. Its blade-like hand arcs down before Heidi can reach them.
Junie screams. The demon’s claw slices through and her arm flies the other way, severed at the elbow. Blood sprays in a hot arc across the shield. Junie collapses to her knees, shrieking, the shield shattering with her.