Episode4
1224 Words
The morning sky over the forbidden mountains was painted with heavy gray clouds, thick and restless like warriors gathering for battle.
Cold winds swept through the jagged rocks, whistling through cracks in the mountain walls like ancient spirits warning of bloodshed to come.
Far below, at the foot of the mountain, a group of hardened soldiers stood in formation.”
They were men handpicked by Alpha Muga, feared ruler of the Eggwell wolf pack,
Their armor was dark iron, scarred from countless battles, their swords sharpened until their edges reflected the pale light of dawn.
At their front stood Commander Rokan, Alpha Muga’s most ruthless captain.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, with a scar running from his left eye to the corner of his jaw.
He raised his fist.
“Move!”
The soldiers began their climb.
The path was merciless.
Sharp rocks tore at their boots. Loose stones slid beneath their feet, threatening to throw them into the ravines below. The air grew thinner, colder, more unforgiving with every step.
Hours passed.
The soldiers climbed in silence, their breathing heavy.
Inside, a small fire crackled softly.
Across the cave, Zorun sat cross-legged before a bowl of burning herbs.
His silver beard reached his chest, and his robes shimmered faintly with symbols stitched in gold thread.
But his face was troubled.
His eyes were closed.
His breathing had changed.
He was listening.
Not with his ears.
But with something far older.
Something deeper.
Suddenly, his eyes flew open.
The flames in the bowl shot upward.
Zorun rose slowly.
“They’ve come.”
Outside, the wind howled harder.
The mountain trembled faintly beneath distant footsteps.
The child tilted her head, crying louder.
Zorun looked at her, his face softening.
He knelt before her.
“No one will touch you while I still breathe.”
He placed his hand gently on her forehead.
A golden glow surrounded her briefly.
A protective barrier.
Then he stood.
Zorun turned and walked toward the cave entrance.Outside, the mountain was alive with movement.
The soldiers had reached the upper cliffs.
Commander Rokan motioned for silence.
He could feel it now.
A strange pressure in the air.
Like the mountain itself was watching them.
“Spread out,” he whispered.
Steel slid from sheaths.
The men moved cautiously between trees.
Then—
A voice echoed through the fog.
“You should not have come.”
The soldiers froze.
Commander Rokan spun around.
Nothing.
Only mist.
Only wind.
“Show yourself!” he roared.
The fog thickened.
Then from above—
A streak of blue fire crashed into the earth before them.
BOOM!
The explosion hurled three soldiers backward.
Their screams echoed down the mountain.
The men scrambled up in panic.
“What was that?!”
Another blast.
Then another.
Blue fire rained from nowhere.
Trees erupted into flames.
The soldiers shouted in terror.
“It’s him!”
“Wizard!”
“Take cover!”
From atop a black stone ledge, Zorun appeared.
His robes whipped violently in the wind.
His staff glowed with blinding white light.
His eyes burned with fury.
“You serve a coward king,” Zorun thundered.
Commander Rokan pointed his sword.
“Kill him!”
The soldiers charged.
Zorun slammed his staff against the stone.
A shock wave exploded outward.
The earth cracked.
Men were thrown off balance, crashing into rocks.
One soldier flew over the cliff edge, disappearing into the abyss below.
Another screamed as roots burst from the ground, wrapping around his legs and dragging him into the dirt.
Commander Rokan lunged forward, sword raised.
Zorun lifted one hand.
The commander froze midair.
His body suspended like a puppet.
His eyes widened in horror.
“How—”
Zorun clenched his fist.
Commander Rokan was hurled across the mountain like a rag doll, smashing into a tree trunk with a sickening crack.
He collapsed motionless.
Panic spread instantly.
The remaining soldiers stumbled backward.
“We can’t fight him!”
“Retreat!”
But retreat was no longer possible.
The mountain itself had become Zorun’s weapon.
Rocks rolled from above.
Branches snapped like whips.
The winds turned violent, slicing through the soldiers’ ranks.
One by one, they fell.
Some are unconscious.
Some are fleeing.
Some never rise again.
In mere moments, Alpha Muga’s elite unit was destroyed.
Silence returned.
Only smoke and groans remained.
Zorun stood among the wreckage, breathing steadily.
His staff dimmed.
He surveyed the battlefield.
Then he noticed movement.
One soldier remained alive.
A young man no older than twenty.
He was trembling violently, pinned beneath fallen stones.
His sword had fallen from his hand.
His eyes were wide with terror.
Zorun approached him slowly.
The young soldier tried to crawl away.
“Please…” he whispered. “Please don’t kill me.”
Zorun stopped before him.
“You are fortunate.”
The soldier stared upward, confused.
Zorun lifted the stones, trapping him with a wave of his hand.
The young man scrambled backward.
“Go.”
The soldier blinked.
“What?”
“Return to your master.”
The mountain wind swirled around them.
Zorun’s voice deepened.
“Tell Alpha Muga this.”
The young soldier listened, frozen.
Zorun stepped closer.
“The child is beyond his reach.”
His eyes glowed faintly.
“And if he sends another army…”
Thunder rolled across the sky.
“I will bury them all beneath this mountain.”
The soldier swallowed hard.
Fear nearly stopped his breathing.
“Go,” Zorun repeated.
The young man wasted no time.
He stumbled to his feet and ran.
Down the mountain.
Past bodies.
Past shattered weapons.
Past the warning carved into his memory forever.
Hours later.
Night had fallen when the lone soldier entered Alpha Muga’s fortress.
He burst through the palace gates, dirty, bruised, shaking uncontrollably.
The guards stared in disbelief.
“The commander?”
The soldier said nothing.
He was escorted directly to the throne chamber.
Inside, Alpha Muga sat on his throne of black wood and wolf bones.
Massive torches lit the room in an orange firelight.
His golden armor gleamed.
His sharp eyes narrowed as the soldier collapsed before him.
“Where are the others?”
Silence.
The soldier couldn’t raise his head.
Alpha Muga rose slowly.
His boots echoed across the stone.
“Answer me.”
The soldier’s lips trembled.
“Dead, my Alpha.”
The chamber fell silent.
Alpha Muga’s face darkened.
“How?”
The soldier looked up, tears in his eyes.
“Zorun.”
The name itself felt dangerous.
“He attacked us before we reached the cave. Commander Rokan is dead. The others… all gone.”
Alpha Muga clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles whitened.
“And what message did he send?”
The soldier repeated the words exactly.
“The child is beyond your reach. If you send another army… he will bury them all beneath the mountain.”
Silence.
A terrifying silence.
Then—
Alpha Muga laughed.
Not with humor.
But madness.
Cold. Sharp. Dangerous.
The soldier trembled harder.
Alpha Muga turned away slowly.
“So.”
He walked toward the great window overlooking his kingdom.
“Zorun wishes for war.”
Lightning flashed outside.
His reflection stared back at him like a demon.
“No wizard will keep what belongs to me.”
He looked over his shoulder.
“Gather the royal diviners.”
- Writer
