Bloodstone Ridge lived up to its name.
The wind screamed as Maria and Kael climbed the narrow rise, carrying with it the scent of iron and old death.
Jagged rocks cut into the sky like broken fangs, their surfaces stained dark from battles long forgotten or deliberately erased. Every step felt watched.
"This place remembers violence," Kael muttered. "It feeds on it."
Maria nodded, silver light threading through her fur as the Moon's power remained close, watchful.
"Then it will remember who bled last."
They reached the crest and the ridge erupted.
Figures surged from behind the rocks,wolves twisted by corruption, their bodies stretched unnaturally, eyes glowing a sickly red.
Old pack markings were still visible on their hides, half-erased by ash and rot. These had once been wolves.
Now they were weapons.
Maria didn't hesitate.
She leapt forward, claws igniting with silver fire as she tore through the first attacker.
Moonlight exploded with every strike, burning corruption from bone.
Kael followed beside her, shadow and steel moving in brutal harmony, his growl vibrating with restrained fury.
The ridge shook beneath them.
More came. Too many.
The ground cracked open, releasing skeletal beasts bound together by necrotic chains.
One lunged for Kael,but Maria slammed into it mid-air, ripping its skull apart with a snarl that echoed across the ridge.
"Stay behind me!" she commanded.
Kael snarled back, eyes blazing. "Never."
They fought back-to-back, blood slicking the stones beneath their feet.
Maria felt it then,the shift. The moment the ridge acknowledged her.
A sudden pressure rolled outward from her chest. Invisible. Absolute.
The corrupted wolves faltered.
Some dropped to their knees. Others howled in agony as the Moon's authority crushed the darkness inside them.
Maria raised her head, voice cutting through the chaos.
"Kneel."
The word carried power older than crowns.
Those still standing collapsed, bodies trembling against the stone.
Kael stared at her,not in fear, but awe.
"The packs felt that," he breathed. "Across territories."
Maria looked down at her bloodied claws, breath steady, heart unshaken. "Good," she said quietly. "Let them know."
As the last creature fell, the ridge fell silent once more soaked in blood, scorched by moonfire.
Far away, across corrupted lands and broken altars, the Ashen King's fingers tightened around his throne.
Bloodstone Ridge had chosen a side.
And it was not his.