The climb toward the summit was a slow, agonizing crawl through a world that had forgotten the touch of the sun. The higher they climbed, the more the air felt like shards of glass in Seraphina's lungs. Hokan's trackers led the way, their massive paws wide enough to stay atop the shifting snow, while Kael remained a constant, iron presence at Seraphina's side.
The bond between them was no longer a conversation; it was a lifeline. Every time her legs threatened to give out, she felt a surge of Kael's tireless endurance. Every time the biting wind threatened to steal her warmth, she felt the embers of his Alpha spirit shielding her.
You are pushing too hard, Kael said, his voice reaching her through the mental bridge even as the howling wind made speech impossible.
I have to, she replied, her mind flickering with the image of the black iron door. It's pulling, Kael. It knows I'm coming.
The mountain seemed to shift beneath them. It wasn't an earthquake, but a rhythmic vibration, as if the giant made of stone was beginning to stir from a long slumber. The trackers stopped, their ears flattened against their heads, low growls vibrating in their chests.
The trail ends here, Hokan shouted over the gale, pointing toward a sheer cliff face of blue, translucent ice. Beyond this is the Maw of the Ancients. No wolf has set foot there since the Great Sealing.
I will go first, Kael declared, stepping toward the ice.
No, Seraphina said, stepping in front of him. Her silver mail began to glow, the light cutting through the swirling snow like a beacon. The mountain won't open for a King. It only knows the Moonborn.
She placed her bare hand against the blue ice. The cold was absolute, a stinging bite that traveled up her arm and settled in her marrow. She closed her eyes, searching for the frequency of the lock.
The ice didn't shatter this time. It began to hum.
Underneath her palm, the frozen surface started to thin, turning from solid ice into a mist that smelled of ozone and ancient earth. The wall vanished, revealing a tunnel that spiraled downward into the heart of the peak.
The darkness inside was absolute, but the moment Seraphina stepped through the threshold, the walls ignited. Torches made of eternal blue flame flickered to life in iron sconces shaped like dragon claws.
Kael followed her, his sword drawn and his eyes scanning the shadows. Draven and Hokan remained at the entrance, their forms silhouetted against the blinding white of the exterior storm.
Stay here, Kael commanded them. If we aren't back by moonfall, seal the entrance with the mountain's blood.
Kael— Hokan started, but the King had already stepped into the depths.
The tunnel led to a chamber so vast that the ceiling was lost in a haze of freezing fog. At the center stood the door Seraphina had seen in her visions. It was fifty feet tall, made of black iron that seemed to absorb the light from the blue torches. The symbol of the wolf swallowing the sun was carved into the center, and it was sweating—heavy, dark droplets of moisture ran down the metal, freezing into jagged black icicles at the base.
The seal is failing, Kael whispered, his voice sounding small in the immense space.
It's not failing, Seraphina said, walking toward the door. It's being summoned.
A shadow detached itself from the base of the iron door. It wasn't a projection this time. It was a man, his skin pale as bone and his eyes burning with the sickly green fire of the Outpost.
Alaric.
He looked different. The arrogance was gone, replaced by a hollow, frantic energy. His fingers were bloodied, as if he had been trying to claw through the iron with his bare hands.
You thought you killed me, Sera, Alaric rasped, his voice echoing with a thousand overlapping tones. But you only sent me back to the source. The light you used... it was the final ingredient. It woke them up.
He's not himself, Seraphina whispered to Kael. He's a vessel now.
Alaric let out a laugh that turned into a coughing fit, black fluid spraying onto the ice. The Moonborn were never your protectors, Kael Draven! They were the jailers who stole the primal strength of our kind and locked it away because they were afraid of the true Alpha!
Kael lunged, his obsidian blade whistling through the air, but Alaric didn't dodge. He raised a hand, and a wall of black ice erupted from the floor, catching Kael's blade and shattering it into a dozen obsidian shards.
Kael staggered back, looking at his broken weapon in shock.
The time for kings is over, Alaric screamed.
He turned back to the door and pressed his bloodied palms against the iron wolf's eyes. The door began to groan, the sound of grinding metal vibrating through Seraphina's teeth. A thin crack appeared down the center, and a blast of air so cold it felt like liquid nitrogen poured out.
Seraphina felt the power in her blood surge toward the crack. The pulling was no longer a gravity; it was a hunger. The things behind that door wanted her light, and they were using Alaric to reel her in.
No! she cried out.
She ran toward the door, her hands glowing with a blinding brilliance. She didn't attack Alaric; she slammed her palms against the iron, trying to force the crack shut.
The light and the dark clashed, creating a shockwave that threw Kael against the far wall. Seraphina felt her feet sliding on the ice as the pressure from inside the door tried to push her back.
You can't hold it! Alaric shouted, his eyes turning entirely green. You are just a girl!
I am the warden! Seraphina roared.
Through the bond, she felt Kael's hand find hers. Even without his sword, even with his body bruised, he was there. He pressed his palm over hers on the freezing iron.
Use my life, Seraphina! Give them everything I am! Just don't let them out!
The fusion of their spirits was more intense than it had ever been. Seraphina felt his strength, his history, and his absolute love for her act as a catalyst. The silver light turned into a liquid white fire that began to cauterize the crack in the door.
The iron began to glow red-hot. Alaric screamed as the purity of the light touched him, his form beginning to dissolve once again into ash.
The door slammed shut with a boom that shook the entire mountain. The black icicles shattered, and the sweating stopped.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Seraphina slumped against the door, her breath coming in white puffs. Her hands were blistered, and the mark on her chest felt like it had been carved with a hot needle. Beside her, Kael was on one knee, his head bowed, his chest heaving.
Is it closed? he managed to ask.
For now, she said, looking at the iron wolf. But the lock is thin, Kael. We didn't fix it. We just held the handle.
She looked at her hands, where a faint, violet vein was now visible beneath the silver glow.
Alaric was right about one thing, she whispered. The Moonborn didn't just build the cage. They became part of it.
Kael stood up, his face pale but his eyes fierce. Then we will find a way to forge a new seal. We have the Stronghold, we have the Council, and we have the Temple. We aren't done yet, Seraphina.
But as they began the long walk back toward the surface, a low, rhythmic thud came from the other side of the black iron.
Thump.
Thump.
Something was still awake in the dark. And now, it knew the taste of her light.