Chapter Eleven : The Alphas Oath
490 Words
The black dagger hovered in the air.
Its silver veins pulsed like a heartbeat.
Every wolf inside the shrine instinctively stepped back.
Every wolf...
Except Vesper.
She couldn't explain it.
Something deep inside her called to the weapon.
"Nightbane..."
The name slipped from her lips once more.
The dagger drifted toward her.
Slowly.
Gracefully.
As though it had finally found its rightful owner.
"Don't touch it!"
Kaelen's command echoed through the shrine.
Vesper hesitated.
But it was already too late.
The moment her fingers wrapped around the hilt, a burst of silver energy exploded through the chamber.
The force threw everyone backward.
Kaelen slammed against a stone pillar with a painful grunt.
Dust filled the air.
Silence followed.
Then...
Vesper opened her eyes.
She was still standing.
Nightbane rested comfortably in her hand.
Not a single scratch marked her skin.
The blade had accepted her.
"No..."
Darian whispered.
"That's impossible."
Kaelen slowly rose to his feet.
His grey eyes remained fixed on Vesper.
"Only one person in history could wield Nightbane."
Vesper looked down at the weapon.
"It doesn't feel dangerous."
Kaelen let out a bitter laugh.
"That's because it doesn't belong to your enemy."
His words lingered between them.
Before Vesper could ask what he meant...
The black blade suddenly flashed.
A vision crashed into her mind.
Fire.
Blood.
A little girl crying beneath a burning tree.
A man carrying her through the flames.
"Run!"
He shouted.
"You must never let them find her!"
The vision shifted.
Another face appeared.
Young.
Terrified.
Kaelen.
No older than thirteen.
His hands were covered in blood.
His parents lay motionless before him.
Then...
Someone stepped from the shadows.
Their face hidden beneath a black hood.
Only one thing was visible.
A silver wolf emblem.
The exact same emblem engraved on Vesper's pendant.
The vision shattered.
Vesper stumbled backward, gasping for air.
Kaelen caught her before she hit the ground.
For one suspended heartbeat...
Neither of them moved.
His hand remained around her waist.
Her fingers instinctively gripped his shirt.
Their eyes met.
Close enough to hear each other's breathing.
Close enough to forget the war standing between them.
Then reality returned.
Vesper immediately stepped away.
"I saw something."
Kaelen's face darkened.
"What did you see?"
She hesitated.
"I saw... your parents."
The color drained from his face.
"And someone wearing the same symbol as my pendant."
Silence swallowed the shrine.
Kaelen slowly closed his eyes.
For years he had believed he knew exactly who murdered his family.
Now...
For the first time...
He wasn't sure.
Before anyone could speak again, Nightbane began to vibrate violently.
A deep crack echoed through the shrine walls.
The ancient altar split in half.
Hidden beneath it was another object.
Not a weapon.
A crown.
Forged from black silver.
Its surface glowed beneath the moonlight.
The moment Vesper looked at it...
The crown rose into the air.
And without anyone touching it...
It slowly turned...
Toward Kaelen.
- Writer
