The first consequence was quiet.
It arrived without lightning, without screams, without blood.
A pack chose wrong.
They did not announce it.
They simply stopped coming.
Their patrol fires went dark one by one. Their boundary stones dulled, no longer humming with the land’s attention. Messengers sent to them returned confused, uneasy.
“They’re still there,” one scout reported. “Alive. Functioning. Calm.”
Too calm.
Ronan heard it before anyone else did.
“They’re… muted,” he said, fingers trembling against his chest. “Like a song played under water.”
Ashael’s form pulled tight, edges jagged. “They have submitted fully.”
“To the Shepherd?” Kaelith asked.
“No,” Ashael replied grimly. “To the Continuum.”
The words landed like ash.
I closed my eyes briefly, steadying myself. “Show m
