Chapter 15: The Oath of the Four
Chapter 15: The Oath of the Four
The silver pillar soared into the heavens.
Its brilliance pierced the crimson clouds, dividing the Blood Moon with a radiant streak of light.
Across the valley, every wolf stopped fighting.
Black-armored soldiers.
The Gray Watch.
The Crimson Eclipse.
Even Fenrir and the masked king turned toward the western horizon.
"The Hall..." Fenrir whispered.
"He found it."
The masked king tightened his grip on the King's Fang.
"No..."
"He purified the Spear."
For the first time, uncertainty crept into his voice.
Deep beneath the ruins of House Vale, the Hall of Echoes trembled.
The purified spear floated above the fractured floor.
Its silver blade reflected the Heartstone's glow.
Lucien stared at the weapon in disbelief.
"I thought..."
"I thought its light was gone forever."
Aria stepped beside him.
"It was waiting."
"Just like the Heartstone."
Cassian's golden eyes narrowed.
"Sentiment."
"The oldest weakness."
He extended one hand.
Black tendrils erupted from the darkness beneath the Hall, racing toward the spear.
The purified weapon answered instantly.
Silver runes ignited along its shaft.
A dome of moonlight expanded outward, vaporizing the corruption before it could reach Aria.
Cassian lowered his hand.
"So..."
"It remembers its first master."
Lucien frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Cassian smiled faintly.
"I forged that spear."
The revelation stunned the chamber.
Aria looked from the spear to Cassian.
"You created it?"
"Long before I became the enemy."
Cassian's gaze lingered on the weapon.
"It was forged to absorb corruption from the hearts of wolves."
"But corruption cannot simply disappear."
"It must go somewhere."
Lucien slowly understood.
"It entered you."
Cassian closed his eyes.
"Piece by piece."
"Year after year."
"I carried the darkness of thousands."
"And eventually..."
"I could no longer tell where their hatred ended and mine began."
Silence settled over the Hall.
For a brief moment, Aria saw not a monster...
But a man who had once sacrificed everything.
Then chosen the wrong path.
The Heartstone pulsed gently.
A voice echoed inside Aria's mind.
Compassion is not surrender.
Judgment is not revenge.
She looked at Cassian.
"There was another way."
Cassian laughed quietly.
"History has never rewarded patience."
"It rewards victory."
Suddenly, the Hall shook violently.
The glowing map hovering above the chamber flickered.
The frozen fortress in the north blazed brighter than the other locations.
Fenrir's voice echoed faintly through the Heartstone.
The Frost Relic awakens.
Cassian immediately looked toward the glowing symbol.
"So."
"The Spear has called to its twin."
Aria frowned.
"Twin?"
"The Frost Spear."
Cassian nodded.
"The relic that commands the storms."
"If the Crimson Eclipse reaches it..."
"They'll freeze every northern pack into submission."
Lucien stepped forward.
"They won't."
Cassian raised an eyebrow.
"You still think you can stop destiny?"
"No."
Lucien answered.
"I think I can change it."
He removed the silver emblem from his armor.
It bore the ancient crest of the Moon Council.
"I wore this once with pride."
He tossed it onto the floor.
"I don't deserve it."
Aria picked it up.
"You earn it."
"Not by your past."
"But by what you choose now."
Lucien looked at her in stunned silence.
For the first time in twenty years...
Someone had offered him forgiveness.
A single tear traced the scar across his face.
Before anyone could speak again, Garrick burst through the shattered entrance of the Hall.
His armor was cracked.
Blood covered one side of his face.
"My Lady!"
He struggled to catch his breath.
"The battlefield..."
"What happened?" Aria asked.
Garrick's expression was grim.
"The masked king has withdrawn."
Cassian smiled knowingly.
"He knows he cannot claim the Hall today."
Garrick continued.
"But before he retreated..."
"He left a message."
The old warrior unfolded a black banner taken from the battlefield.
Burned into the cloth was the ancient crest of the Moon Council.
Crossed out by a crimson slash.
Beneath it were seven words.
Bring me the Heir before the next full moon.
Aria read them twice.
"The next full moon..."
Fenrir's voice echoed once more through the Heartstone.
Twenty-eight days.
That is all we have.
The Hall grew silent.
Twenty-eight days to recover the remaining relics.
Twenty-eight days to unite the fractured packs.
Twenty-eight days before the Crimson Eclipse launched its final campaign.
Cassian turned toward the hidden passage through which he had entered.
He paused without looking back.
"When we meet again, Aria..."
"You will no longer have the luxury of choosing only who to save."
"You will decide..."
"Who must be sacrificed."
He disappeared into the darkness.
The chamber remained still for several long moments.
Then the purified spear drifted gently toward Aria.
As her fingers wrapped around it, silver light exploded through the Hall.
The Heartstone, the Moonblade, and the restored Spear resonated as one.
Three relics.
Three brilliant beams pierced the night sky.
Far to the north, beneath a mountain buried in eternal ice, something ancient opened its eyes.
A crystal fortress that had slept for a thousand years groaned beneath the weight of awakening.
At its highest tower, encased in flawless ice, rested a warrior wearing armor of frozen silver.
The warrior's eyes snapped open.
Blue light blazed within them.
A calm voice echoed through the empty fortress.
"The Heir has begun the journey."
May you like
The ancient guardian rose from the frozen throne and reached for a magnificent spear carved from living ice.
"The Fourth Trial awaits."
