The valley waited like a beast holding its breath.
Dustin felt it the moment Bloodstone’s warriors crested the western ridge, the unnatural stillness, the low hum under the soil. Even the wind refused to move. Clouds bruised into deep purple overhead, churning with magic that didn’t belong to the mortal world.
This was the place the old stories whispered about.
The valley where gods once waged war.
The valley that remembered blood.
Now it would remember more.
Allied forces from a dozen species stretched across the ridge and the plains behind it; wolves, foxes, fae, witches, werecats, werebears, and peaceful vampire clans. Over a thousand bodies moving with tense coordination. Armor glinted. Weapons clattered.
But under the sound was fear.
Hope.
Determination.
And a single collect
