Chapter 35: Shadows Over Ember Lake
The battlefield had gone quiet, but the echoes of howls still lingered in the wind. Kael stood atop the ridge that overlooked the valley of Black Ash Vale, the crisp night air tugging at his cloak. Below, warriors cleaned their blades, helped the wounded, and gathered the fallen for the moon's final blessing.
A new day had not yet dawned, but a new era had begun.
Still… Kael's golden eyes stayed locked on the horizon.
Something stirred beyond those mountains.
Something old.
---
Ember Lake shimmered under the moonlight like molten glass. Nestled between two black peaks, the lake was sacred—an ancient neutral ground once used by werewolf clans for negotiations, blood pacts, and trials by reflection.
But tonight, it stirred.
The waters bubbled unnaturally. A ripple danced across the surface.
A lone figure stood at its edge—barefoot, robes swaying. A woman.
Eyes shut. Hands dripping with black ichor.
Her voice was a whisper that carried for miles.
"They awaken… again."
Behind her, shadows twisted.
And out of the trees stepped a beast. Not a rogue. Not a wolf.
A Relic-Born.
Towering, armored with bone and runes, its eyes glowed with violet flame.
"We've waited long enough," the woman whispered. "The Crimson Howl stirs. The bloodline... pulses. It must be contained before it remembers what it was."
---
Back in the Crimson Howl's camp, the Oathstone pulsed softly. Flames danced around it, and Kael sat before it cross-legged, his breathing calm. The system flickered behind his eyes.
> System Display
Pack Rank: 2 – Awakened
Pack Size: 38
Chaos Bloodline Sync: 21%
Treasury Access: Unlocked
Next Pack Milestone: Rank 3 – Requires Territory Challenge Completion
Upcoming Mission Available:
Location: Ember Lake
Mission: Investigate the Moon-Sworn Disturbance
Reward: Unknown Relic Fragment / Pack Evolution Clue
Warning: High Threat Level – Multiple Entities Detected
Kael exhaled.
"The lake again," he murmured. "Grandfather always said nothing good ever rises from its depths."
Seth burst through the flap of the tent, eyes wide. "Kael! You need to come outside. Now."
Kael was on his feet instantly.
Outside, Flam stood at the edge of the camp, his face grim.
Kael followed his gaze.
Above the eastern sky, the moon had turned red again—not fully, not like the Black Moon—but bleeding at the edges, just enough to make the wolves stir.
And in the distance, visible only to those with sharpened senses…
A howl not of this world. Low. Hollow. Hungry.
Kael's voice dropped.
"…We're being watched."
> System Alert:
New Event Triggered: Shadow March
Moon-Sworn Envoy Detected – Estimated Arrival: 3 Days
Prepare defenses. The ancestors are no longer the only ones watching.