Shadow Ascendant

His boots sank into the frost-crusted ground, each step a reminder of the cursed path he'd chosen. Behind him, his pack-werewolves clad in leather and iron-moved in eerie unison, their heavy

its jagged spires clawing at the sky

er silver-flecked eyes scanning the desolate hills. As his beta, her loyalty was ironclad, but even she couldn't mask

Citadel lies beyond these peaks, buried in the mountains' heart. It's where the veil betwe

nd the curse that was twisting their kind, turning werewolves into mindless, bloodthirsty horrors. The S

f the hills themselves rejected their presence. Magnus pressed on, his gaze fixed on the distant peak that stabbed the clouds like a

g at his restraint. He'd always faced threats head-on-ripping through enemies with fang and claw-but the Citadel's shadow stirred something deeper, a primal dread that

e Citadel at dawn," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

too. But we don't cower. The Suldari know this magic's secrets. If we

as a legend whispered in terror. Those who ventured too close never returned, their scents lost to

gnus's senses screamed-every scent, every sound amplified by the beast within. As they neared the summit, the Citadel's spires pierced the fog, their obsidian surfaces pulsing with a sickly light.

gnus said, his v

de, her hackles raise

. "Let it. We've come

hey approached the Citadel's gates, the earth shuddered, and an unnatural sil

look at. They glowed with a malevolent light, their energy clawing at his mind, urging him to fl

fighting to break free as the archway's runes writhed like living things, reshaping into symbols that pulsed with m

"The elders' tales didn'

grim snarl. "We're not here

tang of ancient magic. The Citadel felt alive, its walls throbbing like a heartbeat, whispering in a language only the damned could unde

vast chamber. "This place twists time itself. Past

s growing louder, clawing at Magnus's mind. He could feel the curse's weight, a hunger that want

ld face the curse, tear its secrets from the dark, and dest

the world, they would not stop