The Alpha God’s Luna by Marissa Gilbert
Chapter 56. Nightmare’s Tale
Astrea’s body told her to let go of the horn, but she couldn’t let Midnight down, not after the sacrifice he made for her.
She felt dizzy and slightly scared as dark clouds began surrounding her, her fingers prickling as if bolts of electricity were hitting her. It was hard to tell if the darkness enveloping her was real, but she knew one thing… she felt it with her bones — she had to hold the horn as long as she was physically capable. Everything depended on it now.
“I’ll call you Midnight,” she said, stroking the creature’s iridescent mane. “It suits you, and you can keep me company at night when I am working.
The creature looked at her with his wide violet eyes and ticked its wet nose in her chest, eliciting a chuckle from her.
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“They told me to create a divine weapon, but you are no weapon! You are gorgeous!” The goddess laughed. “I am going to take good care of you, and you will do the same for me, alright?”
“What kind of nightmare is this?” Her mother gasped, walking into the Moonlight garden in their home, and Astraea smirked in response.
“Nightmare?” she smiled at the black unicorn before her, caressing him more. “He will only be a nightmare to my enemies—”
Astrea desperately sucked in the air as a kaleidoscope of memories flashed before her mind’s eye. One of them lingered ever so slightly, and she saw Fenrir standing on a beach next to a huge rock. His hair was much longer than she was used to now, and his eyes locked with hers.
“Stars burn,” she told him and marvelled at the stunned expression that painted his face just for a second before he gained composure.
Astrea’s lips curled involuntarily, reliving their first-ever meeting. “Can I kiss you?” Fenrir asked under a glowing willow tree. “You don’t have to ask—” She barely finished the sentence before his lips crashed into hers, mighty hands pressing her delicate body against his.
“You once said stars burn. I will gladly burn forever if I get to be with you. “His words rang in her ears.
“Astraea, the Goddess of Stars, the lady of justice, will you do me the honour of a dance?” Fenrir bowed before her, and deities around laughed, not trying to hide their smug expressions and igniting something new inside her. She had never been a rebellious daughter, but that night, she couldn’t ignore injustice.
Her hand touched his, and his whole body shuddered momentarily because he didn’t expect this.
“Don’t tell me you changed your mind, Fenrir—” she teased him and felt his fingers closing around hers.
There were so many memories she could barely breathe. A whole lifetime she couldn’t remember before. Now, Astrea was greedy to get every single piece of the puzzle back and kept holding the horn as if her life depended on it.
“Say that you are mine-” he whispered, his chest rising and falling. “Are you mine, then?” she taunted, biting her pink lip and sliding her delicate hand up his arm to wrap it around his strong shoulder.
“If you will have me.”
“Are you offering?”
“I am begging, Astraea!” His confession changed everything.
There was so much pain in his eyes that she couldn’t bear it anymore.
“Then it’s a deal. You are mine, and I am yours. Remember that these words are binding, Fenrir.”
A tear rolled down Astrea’s cheek.
She was walking down the beach in Asgard, loyal Midnight by her side. Another wasted day. The Goddess of Stars was back in Asgard after so long, but she couldn’t find a trace of Fenrir, and the date of her wedding was growing closer. Vidar tried to kiss her again earlier today, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to hold him back for much longer, considering the colours he began to show her.
“I can help you,” Joran walked out from behind the large stone where she had met Fenrir for the first time, startling her.
Instinctively, she felt he was trouble, so she raised her hand, igniting her starry magic at the tips of her fingers as Midnight lowered his head, his horn ready to kill another deity. Waves of cosmic energy made him raise his hands in defence.
“Easy there!” The Serpent let out a chuckle. “I am just trying to help. My name is Jormungandr and I am Fenrir’s—”
“I know who you are.” She dissipated her magic immediately. Fenrir told her about him, so the goddess cut straight to the chase. “Where is he?”
“They — hurt him.” He avoided looking into her eyes.
Her heart ached to hear his words. She suspected it, but knowing this was different. Fenrir didn’t run away like everyone claimed. They tortured him somewhere for what they had done together.
“Where is he?” Her voice was getting louder, and she could feel her power near, almost reaching her this time.
“Listen, it’s dangerous. He wouldn’t want you to risk—” J or an ran his hand through his long blonde hair.
“I asked where he is!” She yelled at him, a warning pulsating in her tone.
“In the sacred mountain — There is a passage. I can take you there, but I tried to get him out many times. It’s useless. You cannot do anything.” Joran finally met her gaze, and she still wasn’t sure if she could trust him, but it wasn’t like she had much choice now.
“We’ll see about that!” Astraea said through clenched teeth. “Lead the way.”
“Fine,” the young dragon nodded and pointed at the nightmare. “You’ll have to leave that behind.”
Astraea bit her lip, considering whether or not that was a good idea. The black unicorn protested, shaking his head and urging her to reconsider.
But Fenrir needed her, so she had to agree.
“There is a Valkyrie who I think can help us,” Joran tried to force a smile on his face, but, at the moment, it seemed too hard for him to do.
“Valkyries serve Odin. Can she be trusted?” Astraea furrowed her brows.
He paused, exhaling heavily and saying, “No one can be trusted. So, are you in?”
She nodded quietly.
“Are you sure about it?” He tested her once more.
“I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life!” the goddess responded. “Take me to Fenrir!”
Astrea had to gasp for air repeatedly as memories were hitting her one after another. There were too many, and her head felt like exploding already, but she didn’t want to miss one single thing. This was her past. It belonged to her!
Fenrir in chains… He looked so tired, barely any clothes left on him.
They didn’t even bother to create any kind of acceptable conditions to keep him here. As if they indeed considered him just an unwanted pet.
She rushed towards him, stepping into puddles on her way. “Fenrir! What did they do to you?” It was painful to see him like this. “It’s not her, it’s not her, it’s not her!” He repeated over and over, startling her. She had never been so scared in her life because that muttering was so not like the man she loved.
She grasped his chains, trying to remove them —
Until a sword pierced her chest, and she saw the pain in the eyes of her beloved.
Astrea screamed, waking up back in the present, beads of sweat trickling down her spine as she panted.
The nightmare looked at her through hooded eyes; his horn had no effect on her anymore, and he finally allowed himself to fully collapse to the ground.
“Oh, Midnight!” Tears sprayed down her cheeks as Astrea wrapped her arms around her oldest friend. “You knew your poison would not harm me, but help me remember. You always knew that!”
The sounds of the creature’s laboured breathing filled the air, but it still let out an approving noise as a reply.
A strong wind blew directly into her face, and she lifted her gaze to see a portal opening right before her and two tall masculine figures walking out of it.
Fenrir saw her first, and his fists clenched at the sight, but the moment their eyes locked, he knew.
He knew that gaze.
She recognised him. Not the one she got to meet in this lifetime.
Him. The real one. The one only she knew.
“Fenrir—” Her voice was barely a whisper, but for him, it moved mountains.
“Astr—” His eyes shifted to what was right behind her. A woman in black leather stood up, getting a charred metal rod from the ground and charging at Astrea.
No! He couldn’t let it happen! It was her last lifetime, and he had just found her. He couldn’t lose her again.
But before he managed to wield his prime gift of fire and stop the girl, her neck snapped awkwardly before she could reach Astrea.
“How dare you!” Joran gritted his teeth. “A firstborn disobeying my order is a breach that has to be paid with one’s life!”
Dominica’s body fell to the sand, and the dragon’s attention returned to his Dragonfly. Yet she did not look back at him. She did not see him. In fact, Astrea probably hadn’t noticed that she almost got killed by her ex-colleague. Her eyes were on Fenrir only, and Joran knew he officially lost her.
If chances were slim before, now they were completely gone.
“Astrea!” Fenrir lushed towards her, falling to his feet next to her, and she wrapped her arms around him, sobbing.
She didn’t say a single word, but her cries told them everything. She cried for what had happened to them, for the things she lost and for what was taken from her over and over. She cried for her love and for finally knowing that not one day passed when he didn’t think about her.
Fenrir pressed her against his chest, a rare tear rolling down his cheek. He almost thought this would never happen again. He loved her either way. With each new life, whatever she was like, whatever their story was, he, without a doubt, fell for her. When he promised to stay away, he still loved her, watching her from afar and trying to protect her by means available to him.
But nothing could compare to when she knew who he was. When she remembered their first encounters and their tragic story. Only then were they able to share the pain and happiness of being together at last.
“Fenrir!” she whispered when her little body stopped shuddering from all the crying in his arms. She lifted her face to look at him, and he wiped away her tears with his thumbs.
“I know,” he kissed her forehead gently, lacing his fingers into her hair. “I know — Gods, Astrea, I love you so much! I—”
She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him closer, their breaths mingling in a kiss they both had been longing for years. Slow and torturous at first, it quickly turned into something else.
A whirlwind of emotions consumed them until she finally broke it, fear written all over her face.
“Fenrir, Midnight is hurt!” She distanced herself and returned her hands to her oldest friend. “We need to help him!”
“Damn it!” Fenrir swore under his breath and tried to assess the black unicorn’s condition, finding out instantly how bad it was.
“Astrea, he is a part of you. Do you have any of your powers back?” the wolf asked, and she shook her head, biting her lip.
“Only the memories—” she confessed.
“Sh*t,” he muttered. “He is dying.”
“He saved me,” Astrea stroked Midnight to try and reassure him, even though she was aware that the nightmare knew this was his end. “And he helped me to get my memories from my first life back.”
“We can’t save him, I am afraid,” Fenrir told her. “He is your divine weapon, but because he was a living being, it’s different for him. If you got your powers back, you could replenish him, but without them, whatever I have is irrelevant—”
“Make him shed his horn. It can still be used even after his death,” Joran interjected, and Astrea shot him a withering glare.
“Is this what you are worried about now?” Her words were filled with so much venom that it made him flinch.
“He is right!” Fenrir agreed, shocking his beloved.
“I refuse to do it!” she said, holding back another sob that threatened to escape her.
“No, Astrea, you don’t understand,” he placed his hand on top of hers, “we can try to preserve him until you get your powers back.”
She paused, hearing this hope blooming in her chest.
Fenrir took a bead off of his bracelet.
“This one is empty,” he said. “It can hold his spirit while—”
He didn’t finish because he could see she was barely holding it together. Too much had happened in one day.
“Do it!” Astrea agreed and cupped Midnight’s chest. “My dear friend,” she sucked in a deep breath, tears burning her eyes, “trust me one more time, please. This is for the best. I’ll do everything to bring you back. I swear—”
Midnight let out a pained sound and closed his eyes, barely able to open them again — a sign of approval.
She wrapped her fingers around his horn once again. At the same time, Fenrir prepared his magical bead, placing his large hand where Midnight’s heart was barely beating now.
“I am here with you,” Astrea lowered herself to kiss her nightmare’s forehead, and as she did, the horn fell into her palm. At the same time, Fenrir concentrated on collecting the last sparks of Midnight’s soul. Like little stars, they flew from the creature, dancing in the air before they reached the bead, causing it to glow the same colour Midnight’s eyes shone in the past.
Astrea was afraid to distance herself, afraid to move, feeling how heavy the unicorn’s head became.
“Until we meet again, my friend,” she whispered, unwilling to move. She cried until she couldn’t anymore, and Fenrir caressed her back, unwilling to leave her even for a second.
“We’ll get him back,” he swore. “I promise. We’ll get him back.”
***
“We need to go,” Joran spoke at last, pain rippling over him as he watched Astrea cradle in Fenrir’s arms. It was as if he didn’t exist.
“We?” she arched a brow at him, the corners of her lips tilted downwards. “I am not going anywhere with the likes of you!”
“Really?” The dragon furrowed his brows. “After everything I have done for you?”
“Like enslaving me from childhood?” Astrea finally stood np, Fenrir helping her.
“I. Saved. You.” Joran said through clenched teeth.
“Bullsh*t!” she threw in his direction, unwilling to spare him another glance.
“You are standing here right now because I managed to hide you from Vidar for so long! You are trained to fight and, more importantly, trained to survive! All thanks to ME!”
“How generous!” she chuckled darkly.
“No, the two of you are the generous ones!” he bellowed. “Not a single thank you for everything I have done! You are literally standing in my home, burned to the ground! By one of you!”
“Then I guess we are even!” Astrea announced and took Fenrir’s hand.
“Let’s go.” He pulled her in the opposite direction, and she followed.
Joran was before them in seconds, standing in their way.
“You’ve got some nerve!” Astrea snarled at him, her eyes glowing with fury. “Mark my words! One day, my powers will return, and I will make you regret everything you did to me and others, too!”
He searched her eyes for remorse or any emotions for him, but she was indifferent to him. This was a promise she intended to keep, and an unfamiliar pain appeared in his chest. It was something new to him. New and heart-breaking.
“I will personally ensure you know the exact pain we suffered thanks to you!” Astrea promised and flinched when he placed his hand on her shoulder. It was as if his touch revolted her whole body, and he couldn’t bear it any longer.
“I know,” Joran breathed out, the ink from her neck slowly returning to where it originally came from — his skin.
Her lips parted when she realised what he was doing as the serpent tattoo finally disappeared from her neck. She touched it when he was done, as if she couldn’t believe he would actually go through with this.
“Thanks for keeping your word, Jor.” Fenrir waved his hand and opened another portal. “I am glad you are still capable of that.”
He had nothing to respond with because he was starting to feel a void forming inside. The familiar sense of emptiness was finally back.
***
Vidar stood in the empty Alpha Convocation room, observing the city through the wide glass wall and processing the news he had just gotten from his trusted people.
Not everything went perfect, but at least now he finally knew why the divine realm was dying and who was behind it.
This changed his plans drastically as he had to ensure Astraea’s fast return to where she belonged. Not only did he desperately desire to see her by his side, but he also knew he needed her powers to restore what was stolen from the gods. There was no time to play games anymore, as he had to stop the process. No matter what the cost was.
Luckily, he had just the perfect plan…