Chapter 19: The Blood Oath
1207 Words
Abigail’s POV
The forest was different.
Or maybe I was.
The Moonstone Vale no longer shimmered with the same ethereal glow as when I entered it. The sacred trees stood silent, like watchful sentinels, their leaves whispering secrets in a tongue older than time. But their reverence felt heavier now, like they sensed what I’d become.
Not just a rogue. Not just a lost heir.
I was the Huntress.
And my war had truly begun.
I stepped out of the veil, my fingers still tingling with the last of the Moondrinker’s power. The others were waiting: Orion, Ivy, Zane, Elara, and Riven. They turned at the sound of my footsteps, their eyes widening.
Ivy stepped forward first. “Abigail?”
I nodded once. “It’s me.”
Zane’s nostrils flared as he inhaled. “Your scent it’s… different.”
Elara’s eyes, always swirling with visions just beyond this realm, went wide. “You touched her, didn’t you? The Huntress.”
“She touched me,” I said softly. “And she left something behind.”
No one spoke.
Not until Orion finally exhaled a curse. “Well, damn. That explains the glowing eyes.”
I blinked. “Glowing?”
“Yeah,” Ivy said, her voice a hushed murmur. “Just for a moment. Silver fire. Like the moon was looking out through your soul.”
I clenched my fists.
Gideon Stormcall. Victor’s true master. The man who wore shadows like armor.
I hadn’t just seen him, I’d felt the tether of power binding him to something darker. And worse… I’d felt it react to me.
We had less time than I thought.
The Gathering Storm
Night fell thick and fast, and we set up camp in the ruins of an old watchtower once used by the Phantom Pack, abandoned now, but still humming with forgotten protection spells.
I sat across from the fire, sharpening my blades out of habit more than necessity. My thoughts churned with everything we’d learned and everything we’d risked.
Elara crouched beside me, her voice soft. “You changed in that place. The Huntress gave you more than just her power.”
“She gave me her memories,” I admitted. “Or pieces of them. Enough to know what we’re facing.”
Orion joined us, his brow furrowed. “So spill it. What’s Gideon’s game? Why help Victor rise just to let him fall?”
“Victor was a pawn,” I said. “He always was. Gideon used him to destabilize the packs, to draw out enemies, to make space for his real goal.”
“And that is?” Ivy asked, eyes narrowing.
“He wants to break the Veil,” I said. “He wants to unleash the sealedmagicac the power locked away after the last Lunar War.”
A cold wind blew through the camp, snuffing out one of the fire’s tongues.
Riven, who had been silent until now, looked up. “Then we don’t have time to build alliances the slow way.”
He was right.
We needed numbers. Fighters. Alphas who still had honor, who hadn’t bent the knee to Gideon’s corruption.
And we needed them now.
A Dangerous Proposal
“I know where to find them,” Ivy said.
We all turned toward her.
“There’s a rebel enclave in the north, wolves who refused to accept Victor’s rule. They’ve been surviving on scraps and secrecy, led by someone called the Hollow Fang.”
“Hollow Fang?” Orion asked, raising a brow. “Sounds like a vampire with a branding problem.”
“No,” Ivy said grimly. “He’s a Whitefang. One of yours, Abigail.”
My breath caught.
“That’s impossible,” I whispered. “They all died.”
“Not all,” Ivy said. “Not according to the whispers. He wears the crest of your house, but he doesn’t speak of the past. Some say he was a cousin. Others… a brother.”
A brother.
I clenched my dagger until my knuckles turned white. “Then we’re going north.”
Zane rose to his feet. “We’ll need to move fast. Gideon won’t sit idle.”
Elara nodded. “And the stars say he’s already hunting.”
Journey Through Frostfang Pass
We traveled in silence, snow crunching beneath our boots as we crossed Frostfang Pass.
The wind here had teeth, biting through cloaks and fur-lined armor alike. But the pain was good. It kept me sharp. Grounded.
At night, I trained with Riven. He moved like a wraith, his blades an extension of his will. Every time I struck, he countered. Every time I dodged, he adapted.
“You’re not the same girl I met in Black Hollow,” he said one evening, wiping blood from his lip with a smirk.
“No,” I said. “She died in the Vale.”
Riven studied me. “The Huntress was born in her place.”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to.
We pressed on.
And finally, we found them.
The Hollow Fang
The rebel camp was hidden beneath the frozen arches of Iceveil Cavern, guarded by traps only a Phantom could see.
We were surrounded the moment we entered.
Blades at our throats.
Snarling, woare lives are ready to kill.
Until he stepped forward.
Tall. Cloaked in midnight blue. Eyes like mine.
“You shouldn’t be alive,” he said.
Neither should you.
“My name is Abigail Whitefang,” I said. “I’ve come to speak to the Hollow Fang.”
The man removed his hood.
“I am the Hollow Fang,” he said. “And I’m your brother.”
Bloodlines and Broken Oaths
The reunion wasn’t warm.
Kaelen, the name he once bore, had been presumed dead during the m******e. But he had survived. Hidden. Waited. Festered.
He didn’t trust me.
Didn’t trust anyone.
“You claim to fight Gideon,” he said, circling me like I might vanish at any moment. “But how do I know you haven’t already become his puppet?”
“Because I bled to stop him,” I said. “And I’ll bleed again.”
He watched me for a long moment.
Then he drew a blade.
“Swear it,” he said. “Swear on our blood. Swear on the grave of our house.”
I didn’t hesitate.
I cut my palm open and pressed it against his.
“Our blood is our bond,” I said. “I swear vengeance, justice, and the rebirth of our name.”
He closed his eyes.
And for the first time in a decade, a Whitefang and a Whitefang stood united.
The Fire Awakens
The Hollow Fang’s rebels were skilled, hardened by survival. With Kaelen at my side, the army I needed began to take shape.
But it wouldn’t be enough.
Not without Lucian.
I needed him.
And I needed to know where his loyalty stood, especially now that Gideon was moving again.
I sent a message to his scouts.
Meet me.
Come alone.
We need to finish what we started.
The moon rose over the mountains like an omen. And I stood at the edge of a new war.
Gideon had made his move.
Now it was my turn.
- Writer
