Chapter 10 - Shadows Beyond the Border
Far to the south, beyond the jagged peaks of the Dragon’s Teeth mountains, the atmosphere was vastly different.
Inside a sprawling fortress carved directly into black volcanic stone, a figure clad in heavy obsidian armor slammed a gauntleted fist against a map table. The impact cracked the solid slate in half.
"Maelor failed," a deep, rasping voice growled from the darkness of the chamber.
Stepping into the flickering light of a brazier was Lord Malakai, the exiled grandmaster of the Southern Blood Cult—an ancient faction that had tried for centuries to corrupt the northern beast-lines for their own dark rituals.
"The girl unlocked the ancestral vault," a subordinate reported nervously, kneeling before the warlord. "She broke our anchoring curse on the Alpha King and bonded with the primordial shadow-entity. The northern packs are entirely unified."
Malakai’s eyes narrowed, glowing with a malevolent red hue. "She thinks because she tamed one ancient beast that she is safe behind her ice walls. She doesn't realize what our artifact truly is."
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He reached into his robe and pulled out a jagged, pulsating obsidian shard that hissed whenever it touched the air. It was a fragment of the very same primeval darkness that had anchored the curse within Blackstone Fortress—only this one was tied directly to the southern blood-gate.
"Prepare the southern legions," Malakai sneered, a cruel smile spreading across his scarred face. "If the northern queen refuses to bow to our shadow, we will bring the entire mountain down upon her head."
