Chapter 347: _Siphoning Divinity

Elian’s POV

*****

The morning after Aurora’s vision was not the way he imagined it at first.

To be fair, after the heated moment with Kyren and Lucian last night—he felt nothing but absolute bliss. He’d been between his mates.

Safe.

Protected.

Loved.

Then Aurora came yelling in his room, talking about some vision no one asked for then pointing out that the fucking moon was actively breaking apart.

Like, he loved his future sister-in-law and all... but seriously, what the fuck?

Elian could only lament mentally as he sat at the Lunarian palace dining room. "Remind me why we’re having this discussion at breakfast." He said groggily, barely able to keep track of the people sitting around him.

There was Lucian at the head of the table to his right. Then Kyren to his left.

Both men were dressed officially—Lucian with his kingly robes and Kyren draped in a full-body black armour with a black cape over it.

"Because we’ve got to decide our next move with this new vision," Aurora blurted from a seat opposite Elian’s.

Seraphyne sat beside her, keeping a hand on her shoulder as though she was afraid she’d literally shatter without her.

From the dark circles on both their eyes, they hadn’t slept last night after the vision.

Dowager Elowen sat at the opposite end of the table. "W–We could send probes to the moon," she suggested. "A crew to investigate what exactly is happening."

"Whatever is happening on the moon right now isn’t physical." Lucian sighed, cutting Elian and Kyren’s discreet looks. "Definitely divine."

"And we can’t find a way to stop or at least slow it down?"

Before the Alpha king could speak again, Elian raised a hand. It signalled everyone to turn their attention to him almost instantly.

Seeing this, the Omega inhaled through his mouth. "What I’m about to say might... be upsetting to some of you."

[Elian, what are you doing?]

’You’re in my head. Take a wild guess.’

[Yeah, I’m doing that. And I also refuse to believe you’re truly about to take such a risky move.]

’There’s nothing risky with telling them the truth,’ Elian’s fingers curled on the table. ’Besides, I’m not sharing too much. Just something vital to get them caught up.’

"What is it?" Aurora and Seraphyne narrowed their eyes at him.

At the far end of the table, Elowen and Sylas gawked curiously with expectation. Lucian and Kyren both looked like they knew what he was going to say.

And like they were going to stop him.

Too late.

"Amara appeared to me last night." He let it out. "Kyren came to find me during the aftermath. But basically, she told me to join her and explained in detail how we’d break Evaros and all of Solara if we work together."

Everyone other than Lucian and Kyren stared at Elian like he’d lost his mind. Then slow realisation began seeping into their faces, alongside terror.

Aurora shifted with unease on her seat. "S–So you’re the one behind the moon splitting?"

Elian frowned. "What? No!" He immediately shook his head. "My point is, what if she somehow found a way to go ahead with her plans? And her first target happens to be the one celestial body that keeps the people’s belief high?"

Elowen’s expression darkened. "B–But how could she possibly generate enough power to destroy the moon?"

Solara’s moon wasn’t just a mere lump of rock orbiting a planet. Generations have witnessed it withstand all sorts of catastrophes.

From battles between the planet’s first and oldest race—the Alloy Dominion Overlords. To bomb testings and even an asteroid impact.

It withstood all of this, magnifying the belief of the people of Lunaria in the goddess.

So for anyone, even a transcendent-level mage, to generate enough power to slowly destroy it—

Aurora’s eyes widened just then. "The Divine Crystal."

Everyone turned toward her.

"What about it?" Seraphyne asked.

Aurora swallowed. "If Amara somehow found a way to tap into the crystal’s power, then she’d have enough divine energy to pull off something like this."

"That’s impossible." Kyren’s response came instantly.

The Rogue king rose to his feet so abruptly his chair scraped against the floor.

"The crystal is buried beneath the Dark Lands capital." His crimson eyes narrowed. "Protected by wards I extended from my palace. Wards I spent centuries building. Not to mention the soldiers and other magi-tech defences."

"But what if she found a workaround?" Elian asked quietly.

Kyren froze while Lucian’s expression turned grim.

Everyone at the table seemed to arrive at the same terrible conclusion simultaneously.

Amara had spent thousands of years studying divinity.

More thousands studying the moon goddess.

Millennia planning.

If anyone could find a loophole... It would be her.

A curse escaped Kyren’s lips. "I need to return to the Dark Lands."

"What?" Aurora blinked.

"Immediately." The Rogue king’s voice hardened.

A pit formed in Elian’s stomach. "Kyren..."

The hybrid looked at him.

For the first time in a long while, Elian saw genuine fear behind those crimson eyes.

"I’ve had a bad feeling since yesterday," Kyren admitted. "I ignored it because there was no evidence. But if Amara has somehow reached the crystal—"

"She might already be in your capital." Lucian completed.

"Exactly."

The room grew heavier.

Then Lucian suddenly straightened. "Wait."

All eyes landed on him as he frowned deeply.

"There is another source of divinity."

Elian blinked. "What?"

Lucian’s silver eyes shifted toward the floor beneath them. "Underneath this palace."

Realisation flashed across Elowen’s face. "The sacred pool..."

Elian’s mouth fell open. "The Baptism Chamber!"

Lucian nodded. "If Amara is somehow siphoning divine energy from the crystal, then we should see similar changes in the pool."

Nobody wasted another second.

Minutes later they were descending through one of the palace’s restricted elevators.

The metal doors slid open with a low hum.

Cool air immediately washed over them.

Elian stepped out first.

The underground chamber resembled a natural cave more than anything else. Ancient silver crystals protruded from the walls, bathing everything in pale moonlight.

At the very centre rested the sacred pool.

A lake of liquid silver.

The same pool Lucian had entered during his Baptism of Moonlight. The same pool that had remained unchanged for thousands of years.

No one spoke as they approached.

Then Lucian stopped, his face going pale almost instantly.

"Elian..." He whispered.

A chill crawled down Elian’s spine.

The Omega followed his gaze and felt his stomach drop.

The silver waterline was lower. Not by much and barely noticeable at first glance.

But enough.

Enough to prove something was terribly, horribly wrong.