The prison void convulsed as shadow storms spiraled above Nyra. Cracks splintered across the Hollow King's throne, leaking torrents of black energy that churned like a forming hurricane.
From within the chaos, a shape began to emerge.
Towering. Jagged. Ancient.
A monstrous wolf-like figure formed from fused shadows and broken souls, its body incomplete yet terrifyingly vast. Hollow eye sockets burned with dim crimson embers as its skeletal jaws parted slowly.
The Hollow King was awakening.
Nyra struggled to remain standing, her legs trembling beneath her weight. Every severance she had performed drained her life force, leaving her silver aura flickering like a dying flame.
You have freed fragments of my prison, the Hollow King thundered.
But you cannot sever what holds me together… without destroying yourself.
Chains of shadow erupted from the void, slamming into the ground around Nyra, forming a jagged circle that pulsed with suffocating power. Inside the circle, ghostly figures materialized — wolves bound together in endless torment, their souls fused into the Hollow King's core.
Nyra's breath faltered.
"These… they're the anchor," she whispered.
Thousands of souls, the Hollow King growled. Bound to sustain my existence. Sever them… and they will be freed… but your life will burn with them.
Nyra stared at the trapped spirits, their hollow eyes pleading silently. Many wore ancient Shadowfang markings. Some were warriors. Some looked barely older than pups.
Her chest tightened painfully.
Choose, Blood Moon heir, the Hollow King whispered.
Save yourself… or free them and fade into legend.
Above the prison chamber, Kael staggered backward as a violent surge of energy pulsed through the barrier. He dropped to one knee, clutching his chest as Nyra's weakening aura flickered against his bond with her.
"She's dying…" he rasped.
Eryndor stepped forward urgently. "If she fails the ritual—"
"I'm not letting her face this alone," Kael growled.
Golden light erupted from his veins as he summoned every fragment of his Alpha power. The ground beneath him cracked as he placed both hands against the barrier.
"If this prison was built by Blood Moon magic…" he snarled, "…then it will answer to the bond that protects its heir."
The barrier flared violently, resisting him. Sparks of silver and gold collided in explosive bursts as Kael forced his power forward, teeth clenched, muscles trembling under the strain.
Below, Nyra stepped closer to the circle of bound souls. Their faint cries echoed inside her mind, pulling at every piece of her heart.
Her silver aura trembled.
"I won't let them suffer anymore," she whispered.
The Blood Moon relic beneath her ribs flared painfully, as if warning her of the cost.
You will vanish, the Hollow King said quietly, almost gently.
Your pack will mourn you… but they will live.
Nyra closed her eyes, memories flooding her mind.
Shadowfang's forest under peaceful moonlight.
The laughter of young warriors training together.
Kael's steady golden gaze… his forehead resting against hers… his promise to wait for her return.
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
"I promised I would come back," she whispered.
The bound souls howled louder, their agony tearing through her hesitation.
Nyra inhaled shakily, placing her hand over the glowing relic.
"I am Blood Moon heir," she said, her voice trembling but resolute. "My power was never meant to preserve me… it was meant to protect them."
Silver energy exploded outward as ancient severance runes ignited across her body, burning into her skin like living fire. Moonlight surged into the circle, wrapping around the trapped souls in radiant chains.
The Hollow King roared, shadow storms spiraling violently as cracks deepened across his forming body.
You would sacrifice yourself for ghosts?!
"They are not ghosts," Nyra cried. "They are Shadowfang's forgotten family!"
She forced more power into the ritual. The severance chains tightened, pulling at the fused souls binding the Hollow King's existence. One by one, faint silver spirits began separating from the monstrous form, drifting upward in fragile liberation.
Nyra screamed as the ritual consumed her strength, her veins glowing like molten moonlight.
Her knees buckled.
Her vision blurred.
But she did not stop.
Above, Kael roared in primal fury as he felt her life force fading. With a final surge of Alpha power, he slammed his hands into the barrier.
The prison entrance shattered in a blinding explosion of silver and gold light.
Kael stumbled forward, collapsing briefly as the force nearly tore him apart — but he forced himself upright and sprinted down the spiraling prison path.
"Hold on, Nyra," he whispered desperately.
Below, Nyra collapsed fully to her knees as the severance ritual reached its peak. Hundreds of spirits tore free from the Hollow King's body, their freed howls shaking the prison void.
The Hollow King's form began collapsing, chunks of shadow breaking away like dying stars.
But Nyra's silver aura flickered violently, her body barely able to contain the power flowing through her.
Her consciousness began slipping.
You free them… but you will fade with them, the Hollow King hissed, his voice weakening but still venomous.
Nyra's eyes dimmed as she forced one final surge of moonlight into the ritual circle.
"For Shadowfang…" she whispered.
The severance chains exploded into blinding lunar radiance.
The prison shook as thousands of souls were ripped from the Hollow King's form at once, scattering into the void as glowing spirits finally freed from centuries of torment.
The Hollow King howled in catastrophic agony as his body fractured violently — but a dark core still pulsed within the collapsing mass.
Nyra swayed, her silver light fading rapidly.
The last thing she saw was the freed spirits bowing toward her in silent gratitude…
Before darkness swallowed her vision.
And from the collapsing shadows, the Hollow King's broken core began reforming into a smaller… deadlier… condensed form.