Chapter 7 - The Blood on the Snow
Donovan’s silhouette appeared at the top of the temple stairs, flanked by four massive Frostpeak warriors transformed half into monstrous grey wolves, their jaws dripping saliva in the freezing air.
Donovan grinned, showing yellowed fangs as his eyes locked onto Evelyn, Nathaniel, and the towering obsidian guardian standing behind them.
"Well, well," Donovan laughed, his voice booming off the granite walls. "The little defective girl and her stray puppy. And look at what else the mountain dragged in. A beast of the old world." He drew a massive broadsword from his back, the steel gleaming dully under the gray sky. "Kill the boy, secure the girl, and bring me the beast’s heart. The North belongs to Frostpeak tonight!"
The four Frostpeak warriors lunged forward with terrifying speed, transforming fully into massive, rabid-eyed predators of muscle and claw.
Nathaniel released his arrow. The silver shaft whistled through the air, striking the lead wolf directly in the shoulder, dropping it with a howl of agony. But three more were already closing the distance, their snarls deafening in the confined space of the courtyard.
Evelyn didn't hesitate.
The human skin melted away in a flash of blinding, pearlescent light. The White Luna stood in all her terrifying glory—larger than any ordinary wolf, her white coat glowing with ethereal radiance, the crescent pendant blazing against her chest like a miniature sun.
With a roar that shook the ancient pillars from their foundations, Evelyn charged.
She didn't fight like a wolf defending territory; she fought like a force of nature reclaiming balance. She intercepted the largest Frostpeak brute mid-leap, sending it crashing into a stone pillar with an impact that shattered the masonry.
Beside her, the Firstborn let out a deafening sound—half roar, half seismic shockwave—that swept the remaining scouts off their feet, sending them tumbling backward down the icy mountain switchbacks.
Donovan cursed, swinging his broadsword in a vicious arc toward Evelyn’s flank.
Nathaniel moved faster. Dropping his bow, he threw himself between Donovan’s blade and Evelyn, taking a glancing blow across his shoulder that tore his tunic and sprayed bright red blood onto the pristine snow.
"Nathaniel!" Evelyn’s mental roar echoed with anguish and fury.
Donovan raised his sword for the killing stroke, sneering down at the bleeding heir. "Your little pet tried to play hero, girl. Now watch him bleed—"
He never finished the sentence.
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The Firstborn’s massive obsidian tail whipped around with the speed of a falling meteor, striking Donovan square in the chest. The brutal Alpha flew backward across the courtyard, crashing through the stone parapet and disappearing over the edge of the abyss with a fading scream that was swallowed by the wind.
Silence rushed back into the ruined temple, broken only by the heavy breathing of the beasts and the sound of wind whistling through the broken arches.
