AFTERMATH
1217 Words
The chariot stopped at the mountain.
Not a prison. A grave.
*Selene* stepped out first. White dress stained with Wolfstain's black blood.
*Ryker* followed, wearing the Alpha pin.
*The Ice Witch* and 6 guards dragged the chained Wolfstain behind them.
Wolfstain was still conscious.
Barely. Ice in his veins. Eyes half open.
He could hear everything.
Selene looked at the mountain wall. A cave covered in old ice.
We can't leave his body exposed.
If they find him, it's risky.”_
Ryker nodded. _“we bury him deeper.”_
The Ice Witch raised her hands.
The ice on the cave wall cracked and opened like a mouth.
Cold air poured out. years of cold.
They dragged him inside along with bellion and vegris to the extreme back.
Chained him
Then the Witch poured magic over him and his comrades.
_“This will keep him alive,”_ she hissed. _“But frozen.
He'll feel every days,He won't age. He won't die just yet.
Just... wait.”_
More ice grew. Sealed the cave. Sealed him.
Runes carved into the walls. Blood magic to make it last.
Outside the cave, Selene and Ryker stood in the snow.
Ryker put the Alpha pin on.
_“What now, Luna?”_
Selene smiled. For the first time, it reached her eyes.
_“Now we rule.”_
The same spot.
But different.
Bonfires. Meat. Mead. Music.
50 people. All the ones who sided with them.
They built a stone marker right over the buried cave.
_“HERE LIES WOLFSTAIN.
THE ALPHA WHO FELL SO THE PACK COULD RISE.”_
And they celebrated on it.
Selene sat on the stone in a silver crown.
Drinking wine. Laughing.
Ryker beside her, arm around her waist.
_“To new beginnings!”_ he shouted.
The pack cheered.
Danced on Wolfstain's grave.
Under 10 feet of ice, Wolfstain heard it.
The drums. The laughter.
Her voice.
He couldn't move. Couldn't scream.
Just breathe ice and barely conscious.
The Ice Witch stood at the edge of the fire.
_“The spell will keep you young, my Alpha and Luna,”_ she told Selene and Ryker.
_As long as he stays buried, you will rule.”_
Selene raised her cup to the stone.
_“To us,”_ she whispered.
_“And to him. For making it possible.”_
---
You Selene… how could you have done all these to me , after everything I did to keep you safe , we had a son together,you vicious woman,you backstabber, traitor , you even had the guts to celebrate on my body . Disaster is going to haunt you forever…. All these were a thought in Wolfastain’s head he couldn’t muster out.
*YEARS 1-10: THE MARTYR YEARS*
_“Wolfstain was ambushed,”_ Ryker announced. _“By rival packs.”_
_“We will avenge him,”_ Selene cried.
And they did.
With fire.
The River Pack burned.
The Mountain Pack broke
12 packs fell in 3 year.
All _“for Wolfstain.”_
Packs were force to join the army of ryker or faced immediate death matches.
Banner: *Black wolf with a frost dagger.*
Army: 40 → 4000.
Taxes: _“For the war effort. For him.”_
They needed his name.
To scare people. To justify the blood.
*YEARS 11-30: THE TRANSITION*
The wars were "over."
The "enemies" were gone.
So Selene stopped wearing black.
Ryker stopped giving speeches about Wolfstain.
New banner: *Silver wolf over blue ice.*
New words: _“The Age of Selene and Ryker.”_
When elders asked: _“What about justice for Wolfstain?”_
Selene would smile. _“He would want us to look forward. Not back.”_
His name got smaller.
From war cries, to songs, to whispers, to nothing.
*YEARS 31-60 THEIR RULE*
No more _“Vengeance of Wolfstain.”_
Now it was just: _“Obey. Or else.”_
They expanded by force. Not lies.
_“Submit to Selene and Ryker,”_ the messengers said.
_“Or we take your young and your land.”_
Refuse? The army came.
No mention of Wolfstain.
Just their names. Their crown. Their ice.
kids didn’t know who Wolfstain was.
Selene and Ryker still looked 25.
The Ice Witch's spell.
They ruled from the pack palace.
The civilization was getting better , economic grows
Every winter they threw a feast.
Not for him anymore.
For _themselves_.
---
*UNDER THE ICE: WOLFSTAIN*
Year 1-3: He heard everything.
The lie. The fires. His name in their mouths.
Fainter. Screams. Marching. His name less and less. Wolfastain only hears the start then nothing.
Selene and Ryker demand...”_
Then silence.
The Ice Witch's spell went deeper.
To keep him alive, it had to cut him off.
So he wouldn't go mad listening.
For the last 90 years:
Darkness. Cold.
He felt nothing, frozen almost to sub zero but the magic was substaining him.
100 years of nothing.
100 years of waiting.
*YEAR 70: THE ICE WITCH'S REGRET*
For 70 years she served Selene and Ryker.
Poured the spells. Watched the River Pack burn.
Then she saw a 10 year old boy kneeling in the square.
The last of the River Pack.
Crying _“For Wolfstain.”_
That night Mira couldn't sleep.
She went to deep meditation then sensed Wolfastain.
And heard him.
Still breathing. Still listening.
_“What have I done,”_ she whispered.
From that day, she started lying.
Told Selene the spell was _“stronger than ever.”_
But in secret? She was praying.
To the old gods. To the moon. To anyone.
_“Let him rise. Let him end this.”_
She cast counter-spells. Small ones.
To keep his body alive, but not trapped.
To keep his mind from breaking.
She was old now. Hands shaking.
But she had a student.
*Naya.* 18. Daughter of her dead friend.
Raised in the palace kitchens. Hidden.
The ice witch taught her everything.
The real history. The real spells. The truth about Wolfstain.
_“They say he was ambushed,”_ Mira told her. _“But I was there. I helped bury him.”_
Mira was 107.
Naya dragged her to the mountain anyway.
_“He's here somewhere,”_ Naya said. _“I feel it.”_
Mira put her old hands on the snow.
Naya put hers over it.
Together they prayed. Not a spell. A plea.
_Gods of creation.
You let an Alpha die for nothing.
Let him rise. Let him judge us.
The people are suffering. Only he can end this.”_
Under the mountain, something answered.
Not with words.
With heat.
She smiled with her last breath.
_“...Wolfstain... rise...”_
A girl's voice. Young. Crying.
*Naya. Covered in snow. Kneeling.
Eyes wide. Terrified. Hopeful.
_
_The Ice Witch died praying.
But nothing seem to happen after the shake.
After so many years , humanity faced evolution, the regions we’re getting more civilized, buildings , roads , science and technology was taking the time to a new era.
- Writer
