WHEN THE EARTH ANSWERS
The scream that tore from the depths of Alpha Ridge was not sound alone—it was memory, blood, and oath unraveling all at once.
Lykos felt it rip through him as if claws had sunk straight into his spine.
The Heartfire seal had not merely cracked.
It had answered.
The mountain convulsed beneath his feet, ancient stone groaning like a wounded beast. Runes older than recorded history flared violently along the walls of Alpha Ridge, blazing silver, then burning red, then collapsing into darkness one by one. Somewhere deep below, molten energy surged, awakened by a call it had not heard in centuries.
Kaelor staggered back, momentarily startled, his feral grin faltering.
“So,” he murmured, awe bleeding into his voice. “It truly lives.”
Lykos ignored him.
His entire
