Chapter 8 - The Ghost from the Past
The floating candles flickered and turned a sickly, bruised purple.
From the shadows of the vaulted ceiling, a figure descended slowly, suspended by swirling dark mist. As she touched down upon the marble floor, the gasps of the assembled pack leaders filled the room.
She was tall, with hair as white as bone and eyes completely devoid of pupils, glowing with an eerie, violet luminescence. She wore robes woven from spider-silk and shadow, and behind her hovered three wraith-like entities bound in chains of black iron.
Matron Delphine.
Eloin gripped the armrests of her throne so hard her knuckles turned white. The woman who had beaten her, starved her, and sold her to the mines stood in the heart of the Eclipse Citadel, radiating a dark, terrifying power.
"Did you really think," Delphine’s voice hissed, echoing mockingly off the stone walls, "that a wretched half-blood could escape her true master?"
Cassian stepped in front of Eloin, his body transforming with lethal intent as dark claws began to form at his fingertips. "Step another foot forward, witch, and I will rip your soul from your flesh."
Delphine only smiled, a cruel, twisted expression that sent a chill through the hall.
"You think you saved her, Cassian," Delphine mocked, spreading her arms wide. "You think the bloodline of the First Eclipse is a gift? It is a curse. And the pendant she wears around her neck..." Delphine pointed a bony finger straight at Eloin’s chest. "...is the key to unlocking the prison of the Ancient Void."
Eloin stood up from the throne, stepping past Cassian despite his arm shooting out to hold her back.
"You lied to me," Eloin said, her voice shaking with a cold, rising fury that drowned out her fear. "You lied about my mother. You lied about what I am."
"Your mother was a traitor who stole the pendant to keep it from the dark gods," Delphine snarled, her violet eyes flashing. "And now, little orphan... you are going to open the gate for us."
With a flick of Delphine’s wrist, the chained wraiths lunged forward.
Chaos erupted in the banquet hall. Pack leaders shifted into giant wolves, roaring as they leapt to defend their king and queen. Spells clashed against claws in a blinding cacophony of light and shadow.
May you like
Cassian lunged at Delphine, but before he could reach her, a wall of black fire erupted between them, sealing the throne dais in an impenetrable cage of dark magic.
Eloin was trapped inside with Delphine and the encroaching shadow wraiths.
