"KAEL"
Vireya's scream tore through the night like it could pull his soul back by force.
She stumbled across blood-soaked stone, falling hard beside his body. His chest barely rose. His face was slack. His skin too pale.
"No," she whispered, hands shaking as she cradled his head. "No, no, no Kael."
He didn't answer.
Didn't move.
Her body pressed against his, trying to lend him warmth he couldn't hold. Drekken's silver eyes were still open behind his lashes, but dull now. Fading. As if he were caging Kael in a final protective shell, sparing him from the agony tearing through his insides.
But she could feel it.
They were dying.
Both of them.
Ashira stirred inside her again no longer whispering.
Roaring.
You are the key. You are the lock. Unleash me Vireya IT IS TIME!
The battlefield blurred.
The veil screamed above them visible now, like smoke turned liquid. Magic peeled the sky open, warping the air.
The corrupted wolves howled triumph.
The ancient ones stepped forward.
Kael's warriors faltered, falling back.
They were losing.
And Vireya was done watching it happen.
She kissed Kael's forehead.
And let go.
Ashira didn't rise like light.
She exploded.
Magic cracked across the battlefield, a burst of primal power so violent it knocked grown wolves from their feet.
Vireya's head snapped back, her mouth wide in a silent scream as her body convulsed with a surge not meant for mortals.
Her bones shifted.
Her skin glowed.
Runes carved into her soul blazed to life and burned away.
And then she dropped to all fours.
Where Vireya had been…
Ashira stood again.
A wolf so massive the ground seemed to bend beneath her paws. Fur like molten auburn flame, eyes brighter than the stars. Every part of her shimmered with raw, ancient energy that didn't just radiate power it commanded it and even though they had seen her before a few days prior.. she had changed again. The power radiating off of her now could be felt in their bones.
The battlefield went still.
Even the corrupted stopped mid-charge.
Because they'd seen her.
The red wolf that wasn't supposed to exist.
The one that hadn't been born in centuries.
Ashira turned her glowing eyes toward the veil and howled.
Not in mourning.
Not in fear.
A call.
A command.
A summons.
And the Guardians answered.
The veil shivered, and from the edges of reality itself through broken stone, through cracks in time they came.
Wolves taller than trees, draped in ancient armor forged of moon-metal and starlight. Their eyes glowed with colors no living wolf had ever seen.
They didn't run.
They arrived.
With a thunder that broke the air.
One by one, they took their place behind Ashira each one radiating an aura that made even the ancients hesitate.
Ashira lifted her chin.
Her voice echoednot from her mouth, but through the earth, the bones, the air itself.
"The Queen has awakened. And her blood calls for vengeance the Guardian's all chanted together."
Vireya felt everything Ashira felt now.
The grief.
The rage.
The magic thrumming in her blood like fire tied to thunder.
The Guardians flanked her.
The corrupted lunged
And Ashira moved.
She didn't fight like a wolf.
She fought like fate.
Teeth tore through rot-flesh. Magic ignited the ground where her paws struck. She leapt, twisted, spun mid-air with a grace no beast should have, and unmade the ones who had stepped too far into her domain.
Behind her, the Guardians held the line.
One howled and the sound shattered the sigils the enemy had embedded in the trees.
Another slammed its body into a spellcaster mid-chant, sending blood and bone into the wind.
Ashira met the largest of the corrupted beasts head-on slamming into it so hard the ground split.
Her jaws closed around its throat.
And tore.
Across the battlefield, Iska stood frozen, her hand over her mouth. Theoron reached for her without thinking.
"Holy. Shit," he whispered.
Iska nodded. "That's not just our queen."
"What is it?"
"A reckoning and she is going to need us lets go!" as Iska yanked Theoron and took off running towards their King and Queen.
Vireya shifted back mid-lunge, landing on her feet in front of Kael.
Naked. Glowing. Bleeding from her mouth but standing.
The veil was still open.
The Guardians were still here.
And her enemies?
They started running. She looked up and realized her 'father' was no longer to be seen. She lost him in the midst of the chaos.. but she vowed to find him. Promised herself the vengeance she deserved.
The corrupted screamed and scattered.
The ancients didn't move.
But they knew.
The red wolf lived again.
And with her?
The end of all who sought to cage her.
Vireya dropped to her knees beside Kael.
"Come back," she whispered, voice cracking.
Ashira purred inside her low, steady.
He will.
Because now she could heal him.
She placed her hands on his bare chest and she felt hands touch her shoulders. She looked up and locked eyes with Iska who just nodded her head at her like she was doing the right thing.
And this time?
Nothing could stopped the magic that flowed from her and from behind her Iska started chanting with her.. she could feel the magic pulsing through her getting stronger with Iska's chance and Ashira pouring her magic out through Vireya and into her MATE.
And then Kaels bones started to knit.
Blood pulled back into skin.
His heart weak, fluttering began to beat strong again.
His chest rose.
And then his hand caught her wrist.
Kael opened his eyes.
Storm-grey. Glowing.
Alive.