Blood Mountain Awakens
868 Words
A low rumble rolled beneath Blackwood Forest.
Bits of dust drifted down from the old vault’s ceiling. The stone around them shuddered.
Lyra’s head snapped up, alarm flashing in her eyes.
“What was that?”
The Guardian’s face lost its color.
“No…”
He looked stricken. “It can’t be.”
Kaiden stepped up, hand tight around his sword.
“What’s going on?”
The old warrior strode to the vault’s entrance, listening for something only he seemed to hear.
“That sound came from Blood Mountain.”
He closed his eyes, bracing himself.
“If Darius is there…”
He didn’t bother finishing the thought.
Lyra’s heart pounded.
“What’s hidden inside Blood Mountain?” she asked.
The Guardian turned to her, voice grim.
“A nightmare.”
Hours later, the trio gathered around a battered old map laid out on a cold stone table.
The Guardian pointed at a jagged peak marked with a red symbol.
“A thousand years back, before anyone dreamed of the White Kingdom, there was a beast Fenrir, the First Shadow Wolf.”
Kaiden frowned. “I thought that was just a story.”
“A lot of people did,” the Guardian replied. “But stories like that stick because they’re true, at least in part.”
He traced a finger across the mountain.
“Fenrir was too strong to kill. So the Moon Goddess sealed him under Blood Mountain herself.”
A shudder went through Lyra. “And Darius wants to set him free?”
The Guardian nodded.
“He thinks Fenrir’s power will make him king of every pack.”
Kaiden looked to Lyra. “Then we’re stopping him.”
Far away, beneath Blood Mountain…
Darius stood in front of a towering stone gate wrapped in glowing red chains.
The air was thick. Ash, blood, something ancient and heavy.
Behind him, dozens of rogues knelt restless, nervous.
One whispered, “Alpha, are we sure about this?”
Darius didn’t hesitate. He grinned.
“Everyone fears the White Wolf,” he said. “But they should be terrified of what’s locked inside this gate.”
From under his cloak, he drew out a black crystal the Blood Stone. It pulsed, alive and hungry.
He pressed it to the seal.
Crimson chains glowed even brighter.
From somewhere deep, a monstrous roar shook the earth.
Some of the wolves shrank back, ears flat.
Something struck the gate. Hard.
Boom!
Again.
Boom!
Cracks split the ancient seal.
A voice, huge and terrible, echoed from the other side.
“Who dares disturb my prison?”
Darius knelt.
“I am Alpha Darius Bloodmoon. I’ve come to offer you freedom.”
Silence.
Then that laugh cold and sharp and endless.
“Freedom… has a price.”
Darius didn’t flinch.
“I’ll pay it.”
Back in the White Vault, Lyra wandered alone through the halls.
Portraits lined the walls generations of White Wolf rulers.
She stopped at one painting. It showed a silver-haired queen cradling a baby wrapped in white.
The queen’s eyes matched her own.
“My mother…”
Tears blurred Lyra’s vision.
She reached out and as her fingers brushed the painting, the wall shifted sideways with a dull thud.
A hidden door groaned open.
Beyond it, a secret room waited. Moonlight streamed through a crystal ceiling, lighting up a marble pedestal at the center.
On the pedestal, a sword rested. Its blade flowed with silver, its hilt a sculpted white wolf with blue-gem eyes.
Lyra stepped closer and the sword glimmered brighter.
A voice old, familiar spoke inside her mind.
“The Moonfang Blade has waited for its true master.”
Lyra hesitated.
“I’ve never held a sword before.”
“You have… you just don’t remember.”
Her hand closed around the hilt.
As she lifted the blade, a flood of memories crashed through her: a little girl swinging wooden swords in a sunny courtyard, a gentle queen teaching her, a king laughing from the sidelines.
Then fire. Screams. Blood. A cloaked figure carrying her through a chaos of night.
Lyra gasped and dropped to one knee.
The visions faded.
Kaiden rushed in. “Lyra!”
He stopped short at the sight of the glowing sword.
His eyes went big. “The Moonfang Blade... That’s the weapon of the White Kings.”
The Guardian appeared right behind, and just this once actually smiled.
“It’s chosen her.”
Suddenly, the ceiling above them turned dark. Moonlight vanished. Distant thunder rolled.
A black raven shot through an open window and landed, sharp and watchful.
Tied to its leg: a strip of bloodstained cloth.
Kaiden untied it and read voice hard and clear.
“Three nights remain before Blood Mountain is opened. Bring me the White Wolf… or every pack burns.”
Just a mark at the bottom.
Darius Bloodmoon.
No one spoke.
Lyra stood taller, grip tightening around the Moonfang Blade.
For the first time since she’d learned who she was, her eyes held no fear only fire.
“I’m done running.”
“If Darius wants the White Wolf…”
She raised the sword, light shining along the blade.
“…then he’ll have to face her.”
- Writer
