The moon hung like a sentinel above the smoking ruins of the Crimson Citadel.
Kael stood at the center of the chaos, blood and ash dripping from his silver-furred warform. Around him lay the corpses of elite Crimson warriors, their bodies shattered, their legacy extinguished. The great gates of the dungeon hung broken behind him, and beside him stood his sister—Lina Varos—clad in tattered chains, eyes gleaming with rage and hope.
Freedom had a price.
Tonight, they paid it in full.
---
The Escape
They didn't have much time.
Crimson reinforcements were coming—Kieran might be dead, but the Alpha Council wouldn't let this humiliation go unanswered. Already, distant horns howled in the wind.
Kael turned to Sylah. "How far is the Shadowcarve path?"
She wiped blood from her cheek, panting. "Two miles west. It'll take us through the Underspine canyons. No patrols. No light. But it's cursed."
Kael nodded. "Perfect."
He looked at Lina. "Can you walk?"
Lina, though pale and barely healed, straightened. "I can fight."
Kael gave a tight smile. "That's my sister."
They vanished into the darkness.
---
Meanwhile… Across the Realm
Word spread fast.
The Crimson Citadel had fallen.
The Alpha of Alphas—Kieran Crimsonfang—was dead.
Slain by a Moonborn with silver fire in his veins.
For the first time in decades, fear crept into the bones of every dominant pack across the continent. Whispers filled the halls of power, carried on shadowed winds and trader tongues:
> "The Forsaken is real."
> "The bloodline lives."
> "The Moonborn are rising."
Some packs rallied their warriors.
Others locked their gates.
But in secret chambers and ruined sanctuaries—hope stirred.
Hidden Moonborn—those once shamed and exiled—began to awaken.
Kael's rebellion had begun.
---
Underspine Canyons: The Curse Awakens
The three fugitives made their way into the blackened crevice of the Underspine—a twisted labyrinth of stone where no moonlight reached. Ancient magic clung to the air, thick and wild. Kael could feel it scratching at the edge of his sanity.
"You weren't joking," he muttered. "It's cursed."
Sylah glanced at Lina. "You both feel it, right?"
Lina nodded. "It's calling to us."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Not to us. To me."
The deeper they went, the more the shadows grew aware. They moved, not with the wind—but with intent.
Kael touched the Fang of Varok.
It was glowing.
Pulsing.
Responding to something deep within the canyon.
Then came the voice.
> "Son of the oath-breaker… blood of the betrayed… you awaken what should have slept forever."
They spun around.
A colossal wolf emerged from the shadows—at least fifteen feet tall, made of bones, smoke, and emberlight. Its eyes were burning voids.
> "I am Malgareth. Guardian of the Hollowblood Vein. Why do you trespass?"
Kael stepped forward, shifting into his warform, silver flames rippling along his fur.
"I seek to rebuild what was broken."
Malgareth growled, the ground trembling.
> "Then face the test. Prove your blood is worthy."
---
The Trial of the Moonblood
Kael was pulled into a world of illusion—his mind torn from his body and flung into a memory of the past.
He stood in a battlefield—a war-torn valley beneath a shattered moon.
Around him raged the final battle of the Moonborn Rebellion, five centuries ago.
He saw his ancestor—Varok the Moon-King—leading a final charge against a united werewolf empire.
But something felt… wrong.
Kael saw his own father there. Arion. Not as a traitor, but as a young warrior standing beside Varok—fighting, bleeding, believing.
> "I never betrayed you," Arion's spirit said, appearing beside Kael. "I made a false deal. A ruse to save the last of us. I let them believe I broke. And it cost me everything."
Kael's chest burned.
"But they said—"
> "They lied."
> "They feared you, Kael. You carry not only my blood, but Varok's mark. You are the key. The rebirth. The weapon they could not kill."
The sky shattered. The vision ended.
Kael fell to his knees, gasping.
Malgareth stood over him.
> "You have seen truth. You carry the fire. Then rise, Kael Varos… Alpha of the New Moon."
The canyon trembled.
Kael stood, reborn—his aura glowing with primal energy.
And etched across his back, in burning silver runes, was the mark of the ancient Moonborn king:
𝕍
---
Back at Camp: The Vow of the Three
They made camp near the river of black glass.
Kael sat beside a fire, staring at the stars.
Lina approached. "You saw him, didn't you?"
Kael nodded. "He never betrayed us. He gave up everything… so I could finish what he started."
Sylah leaned on her blade. "So what now, Alpha?"
Kael looked at both of them. "Now we stop running."
He stood.
"We find the rest of the Moonborn. We train them. We forge a new order. We take back our lands."
"And we kill every last one of the Crimson Council."
The fire crackled, catching the silver in his eyes.
"We were born in ashes."
He gripped the Fang of Varok.
"But we'll rise in blood."