Chapter 5: The Crimson Howl
960 Words
The alarm bells rang without stopping.
Their deep, haunting echoes rolled across Hidden Moon Academy like thunder.
Students poured into the courtyards below, their voices rising in confusion as professors barked orders.
“Inside! Everyone inside!”
“First-years to your residence halls!”
“Upperclassmen report to your instructors!”
Evelyn stood frozen on the balcony.
“What is happening?”
Dean Blackwood’s golden eyes remained fixed on the forest beyond the academy walls.
“They’ve breached the Outer Veil.”
“The what?”
“The magical barrier that hides this place from the human world.”
Another deafening roar shook the mountains.
The ancient trees swayed violently.
Then—
A pair of glowing crimson eyes appeared between the trunks.
Watching.
Waiting.
Evelyn’s breath caught.
“It’s looking at me.”
“It is.”
Dean Blackwood stepped protectively in front of her.
“Stay behind me.”
⸻
The crimson eyes disappeared.
For one hopeful second, Evelyn thought whatever it was had left.
Then the ground exploded.
A monstrous creature burst from the treeline.
It stood nearly fifteen feet tall on four muscular legs, its black fur rippling with crimson veins of magic. Massive antlers, twisted like dead branches, crowned its wolf-like head, while glowing red eyes burned with unnatural hatred.
Its jaws dripped black smoke instead of saliva.
Students screamed.
“What is that?” Evelyn whispered.
Dean Blackwood’s expression hardened.
“A Blood Hound.”
“It looks like a wolf.”
“It was.”
“What do you mean, was?”
“It was corrupted centuries ago.”
The creature threw back its head and released a howl so chilling Evelyn felt it in her bones.
Every wolf shifter on campus winced.
Several dropped to one knee.
⸻
The academy gates burst open.
Professors rushed into the courtyard.
Some transformed before Evelyn’s eyes.
One became a massive silver wolf.
Another spread enormous eagle wings.
A woman with fiery red hair erupted into flames before taking the shape of a phoenix.
Others raised glowing staffs.
Magic crackled through the air.
Professor Elowen stepped forward.
“Shields!”
Dozens of witches and fae lifted their hands.
A dome of shimmering silver light expanded over the courtyard.
The Blood Hound lunged.
Its claws slammed into the shield.
The barrier shuddered.
Cracks of red light spread across its surface.
“It won’t hold,” someone shouted.
⸻
Dean Blackwood drew a silver sword from thin air.
Runes glowed along its blade.
“Stay here.”
“You can’t fight that alone.”
“I won’t be alone.”
He leaped from the balcony.
Instead of falling—
He landed gracefully in the courtyard nearly three stories below.
Evelyn’s jaw dropped.
“…Okay.”
⸻
Maya suddenly appeared beside her.
“There you are!”
Finn and Celeste weren’t far behind.
“We’ve been looking everywhere,” Finn said, slightly out of breath.
Maya grabbed Evelyn’s wrist.
“We need to go!”
“I’m not leaving.”
Celeste looked toward the creature below.
“You don’t have a choice.”
“But—”
Another howl interrupted her.
This one sounded different.
Closer.
Maya’s ears flattened.
“There are more.”
⸻
The academy lights flickered.
Again.
Then went dark.
Only the moon illuminated the campus.
Students froze.
Silence settled over everything.
Too much silence.
Then…
A whisper echoed through Evelyn’s mind.
Little moon…
She looked around.
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Finn asked.
We’ve finally found you…
The voice was cold.
Ancient.
Hungry.
Evelyn clutched her head.
“Someone’s talking to me.”
Dean Blackwood looked up sharply from the courtyard.
His eyes widened.
“No…”
Come home.
Silver pain exploded behind Evelyn’s eyes.
Images flashed through her mind.
A woman with silver-gray eyes smiling as she held a baby.
A man laughing beneath a full moon.
The academy burning.
A crown made of moonlight.
A pair of enormous silver wings.
Then…
A voice.
Her mother’s.
“Run, Evy.”
The vision vanished.
Evelyn staggered backward.
Tears filled her eyes.
“My mother…”
⸻
The Blood Hound stopped attacking the shield.
Instead, it looked directly at Evelyn.
It smiled.
A horrible, unnatural smile.
Then it spoke.
Not aloud.
Inside her mind.
The Queen lives.
The words echoed through every corner of her mind.
Bring her to us.
Every Blood Hound in the forest answered with a howl.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Twenty.
The sound shook the mountains.
Dean Blackwood’s face lost all color.
He turned toward Professor Elowen.
“Evacuate the students.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll hold them off.”
“There are too many!”
“I know.”
He looked up at Evelyn.
For the first time since she’d met him…
She saw fear in his eyes.
Real fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
⸻
The silver bracelet on Evelyn’s wrist burned brighter than ever before.
The moon overhead answered.
A single beam of silver light broke through the clouds.
It landed directly on her.
Everyone stopped moving.
Every creature.
Every student.
Every professor.
Even the Blood Hounds stared.
The light surrounded Evelyn like a cocoon.
Her silver-gray eyes glowed.
Wind whipped through the courtyard.
The moonlight condensed into hundreds of tiny silver feathers that drifted around her.
One feather landed in Dean Blackwood’s hand.
His breath caught.
“It can’t be…”
Professor Elowen looked from the feather to Evelyn.
“The legends were true.”
The Blood Hound lowered its head.
Not in defeat.
In reverence.
Then it whispered one word.
“Majesty.”
Evelyn’s heart pounded.
“I don’t understand.”
Neither did anyone else.
But one thing had become terrifyingly clear.
Whatever Evelyn Carter truly was…
The monsters already knew.
- Writer
