The explosion that shattered the magical wards of the Moonlight Valley didn't sound like a bomb; it sounded like a glass sky breaking. A high-pitched, resonant crack echoed from the heavens, followed by the sickening, deep thrum of the protective barrier dissolving.
Where the air had once shimmered with the faint, silver bioluminescence of the ancient Wolf-Magic, there was now only a gaping, jagged hole into the night. And pouring through that hole was a darkness deeper than the forest shadows.
Simon, in his shifted Tribrid form a terrifying, majestic fusion of white scales, teal fur, and partial wings skidded to a halt ten yards from Beta Mark. His claws tore deep furrows into the earth, kicking up soil and grass.
"MARK!" Simon roared. The sound was a tri-harmonic blast: the Wolf's growl, the Dragon's roar, and the Leviathan's shriek all layered into one voice of absolute command. "Step away from the boundary!"
Beta Mark turned slowly. He didn't look like the Starlight wolf Simon remembered. His skin was grey, pulsing with black veins that looked like necrotic roots spreading under his dermis. His eyes were gone burned out and replaced by two glowing orbs of violet Void-fire.
"Mark is gone, Prince," the thing wearing Mark's skin hissed. Its voice sounded like dry leaves skittering on pavement. "I am the Vessel. I am the Door."
Mark raised the jagged crystal of Void-glass high above his head. "And the Door is open."
He crushed the crystal.
A pulse of violet energy shock-waved outward, knocking Simon back a step. From the tree line behind Mark, the shadows detached themselves from the ground. They rose up, growing limbs, teeth, and claws. They were Void-Stalkers hundreds of them. Behind them, lumbering like hills of rot, came Hollow-Bears and twisted, corrupted forest spirits.
The invasion wasn't coming from the sky this time. It was a ground assault, designed to overrun the Pack House before the dragons could launch.
"DEFEND THE VALLEY!" Simon screamed into the mental link.
The response was instant, but chaotic.
From the Pack House, a stream of Moonlight warriors shifted and charged, a tide of grey and brown fur. From the sky, the Dragon Fire-Guards dove, their red armor glowing like falling meteors. From the river to the east, the Lagoon Guards surfaced, their tridents crackling with bio-electricity.
It should have been a glorious sight. Instead, it was a disaster waiting to happen.
"Watch your fire!" Alpha Michael roared as a Dragon Guard unleashed a stream of flame that nearly incinerated a squad of wolves rushing the front line.
"Get out of the water!" Joanna shouted over the roar of battle as Moonlight wolves splashed through the river, blocking her guards from getting a clear shot with their hydro-cannons.
The armies were fighting the enemy, but they were tripping over each other. The styles didn't mesh. Wolves fought close-quarters. Dragons burned wide areas. Merfolk used precision lines.
In the center of the chaos, Simon engaged the Vessel.
Mark moved with unnatural speed, dodging Simon's massive claw swipe. He countered with a blade made of solidified shadow, slashing across Simon's chest. The new Star-metal armor sparked, holding firm, but the force of the blow staggered Simon.
"They are uncoordinated," the Vessel taunted, parrying a strike from Wave-Cutter. "Chaos breeds shadow. Look at them, Prince. They are burning each other."
Simon risked a glance. He saw a Wolf getting singed by friendly fire. He saw a Mer-guard accidentally shocking a Dragon.
"They need a conductor," Simon grit his teeth.
He slammed Wave-Cutter into the ground, unleashing a shockwave of White Energy that knocked Mark back.
"EVERYONE! LISTEN TO ME!"
Simon didn't just shout with his voice; he shouted with his soul. He forced the Soul-Link wide open wider than it had ever been. He didn't just target Evelyn, Peace, and Joanna. He grabbed the mind of every Alpha, every Captain, every Squad Leader in the valley.
The strain was immediate and agonizing.
It felt like a thousand needles being driven into his brain. He felt the rage of the Dragons, the fear of the Wolves, the cold calculation of the Merfolk. It was a cacophony of noise.
'Filter it,' Evelyn's voice whispered in his mind. She was somewhere in the back lines, acting as the anchor. 'Don't hold the noise. Be the prism. Direct the light.'
Simon closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, trusting his armor to deflect Mark's next blow. He visualized the White Energy in his chest the vortex.
ALIGN.
He pushed the command out.
Suddenly, the noise in the link stopped. It was replaced by a hum. A single, rhythmic pulse. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
On the battlefield, everything changed.
A squad of Wolves was cornered by three massive Hollow-Bears.
'Duck,' Simon commanded.
The Wolves dropped to the ground in perfect unison, not knowing why.
'Burn,' Simon thought, connecting to the Dragon squadron hovering above them.
Three streams of fire shot over the heads of the crouching wolves, incinerating the bears instantly.
'Wash,' Simon directed, sensing a flank of Void-Stalkers trying to cross the river to hit the Dragons' blind side.
Joanna and her guards rose from the water. They didn't need to see the enemy; they felt Simon's sight. They thrust their tridents. A massive wave of pressurized water surged onto the bank, sweeping the Stalkers back into the river where the electric tridents finished them off.
"It's working," Peace yelled from the air, banking her wings to avoid a blast of shadow-magic. "The link is holding!"
"Keep it up!" Simon grunted.
He turned his attention back to Mark. The Vessel looked confused. The chaotic feast he had been promised was turning into a disciplined meat grinder.
"You possess the Collective Mind?" Mark hissed, his violet eyes narrowing. "That is forbidden magic. No single soul can hold that many threads."
"I have three souls," Simon growled, advancing. "I have room to spare."
He didn't just swing his sword this time. He combined the elements.
He channeled the Dragon's heat into the blade until it glowed white-hot. He channeled the Ocean's pressure into his muscles, increasing his speed tenfold. And he channeled the Starlight into his eyes, blinding the Vessel with a glare he couldn't look away from.
Simon struck.
It was a blur of motion. Wave-Cutter sliced through the shadow-blade like it was glass. It continued downward, carving a deep gash across the Vessel's chest.
Mark shrieked a sound of pure, disembodied agony. Black smoke poured from the wound instead of blood.
"You cannot kill me!" the entity screamed. "I am the Void! I am eternal!"
"But your host isn't," Simon said sadly.
He saw the flicker of the real Mark the man who had trained him, the man who had been a friend to his father buried deep within those violet eyes. He was screaming for release.
"Evelyn!" Simon shouted through the link. "I need the Purge! Now!"
"I'm coming!"
From the roof of the Pack House, a beam of pure light shot across the battlefield. It wasn't an attack; it was a bridge. Evelyn slid down the beam of light, landing beside Simon.
"Hold him," Evelyn ordered, her hands glowing with a brilliance that made the Void creatures nearby recoil.
Simon grabbed the Vessel. The Void-fire burned his hands, searing the scales, but he didn't let go. He pinned Mark's arms to his sides.
"I'm sorry, Mark," Simon whispered.
Evelyn placed both hands on Mark's chest, directly over the gaping wound.
"BY THE LIGHT OF THE STAR, I BANISH THE SHADOW!" she screamed.
She pushed.
The light didn't just hit the surface; it poured into the wound. Mark's body arched, his mouth opening in a silent scream. Beams of white light shot out of his eyes, his mouth, his pores.
The violet entity inside thrashed, screeching. It tried to flee, to jump into Simon, but Simon's white aura was an impenetrable wall. It tried to jump into Evelyn, but she was pure light.
Trapped, the entity burned.
With a final, glass-shattering wail, the violet light in Mark's eyes extinguished. The black veins on his skin turned to ash and crumbled away.
Mark went limp in Simon's arms.
The immediate threat was the General, the Vessel. With the connection to the Void severed, the army of Stalkers and Hollows faltered. They became sluggish, confused.
"Finish them!" Alpha Michael roared, sensing the shift.
The Alliance surged forward. It was a massacre. Without the guiding intelligence of the Vessel, the shadows were just mindless beasts. The Dragons burned them. The Wolves tore them. The Merfolk drowned them.
Within minutes, the Battle of Moonlight Valley was over.
Simon gently lowered Mark to the trampled grass. The Beta's skin was pale, free of the grey corruption, but he looked incredibly old. His breathing was shallow.
Alpha David rushed over, dropping to his knees beside his friend. "Mark? Mark, speak to me."
Mark's eyes fluttered open. They were brown again. Human. But dim.
"Alpha," Mark wheezed, a bloody froth bubbling on his lips. "I... I couldn't stop them. The whispers... they were so loud."
"Shh, save your strength," David said, tears tracking through the soot on his face.
"No," Mark gripped David's wrist with surprising strength. "Listen. The Eye... it isn't just watching. It is... projecting. The Void King... he isn't crossing the ocean. He is... bringing the Void... to us."
He looked at Simon. "The Sky... watch the Sky..."
Mark gasped once, his back arching, and then he went still.
Silence descended on the battlefield. The only sounds were the crackling of small fires and the heavy breathing of the warriors.
Simon stood up, his armor stained with black ichor and ash. He looked at the body of the traitor who had been a victim. He looked at the devastation in the valley the burning trees, the cratered earth, the wounded wolves being tended to by Starlight healers.
He felt the exhaustion of the Link hitting him. He stumbled, his vision blurring.
"Simon!" Peace landed next to him, catching him before he hit the ground. Her armor was hot, smelling of ozone. "Easy, Mongrel. You held a thousand minds in your head. Don't faceplant now."
Joanna walked up from the riverbank, her trident dripping black sludge. She looked at Mark's body, then at Simon.
"He warned us," Joanna said quietly. "Watch the sky."
Simon looked up.
The hole in the wards was still there, a jagged scar against the stars. But beyond it, the night sky looked... wrong. The stars weren't twinkling. They were dimming. It looked as if a massive, invisible hand was slowly extinguishing the constellations one by one.
"He's blocking out the sun," Evelyn whispered, joining them. She looked terrified. "Starlight... it comes from the stars. If he blocks the sky..."
"He cuts off our power source," Simon finished. "And he plunges the world into eternal night. A world where shadows can live forever."
King Marcus landed heavily nearby, shaking ash from his wings before shifting back. "Then we don't wait for him to finish the job," the Dragon King rumbled. "We take the fight to him."
"We can't fly to the stars, Marcus," Alpha Michael said, walking over, clutching his wounded arm.
"No," Simon said, his voice gaining strength as the Tribrid mark on his chest pulsed a soft, steady white. "But we can go to the Maw. The Bermuda Triangle. That's the anchor point. If he's projecting a shroud over the world, the projector is there."
"The Maw is surrounded by the deadliest storms in the ocean," Joanna warned. "And guarded by things that even the Kraken fears."
"And we are the Alliance," Simon said, looking at his three mates.
Peace, with her fire.
Joanna, with her tide.
Evelyn, with her light.
"We have the Wolf, the Dragon, and the Sea," Simon declared. "And we have something the Void King doesn't have."
"What's that?" David asked, closing his friend's eyes.
"We have something to lose," Simon said.
He turned to the gathered armies.
"REST!" he commanded. "HEAL! TOMORROW, WE BOARD THE SKY-BARGE! TOMORROW, WE SAIL FOR THE MAW! WE ARE GOING TO PUNCH A HOLE IN THE NIGHT!"
The roar that answered him wasn't chaotic. It was unified. A singular, deafening cry of defiance from three kingdoms that had found their King.
Simon looked at Evelyn. She squeezed his hand.
"Are you ready for the end of the world?" she asked softly.
"No," Simon admitted. "But I'm ready to start a new one."
As the medics moved in and the fires were doused, Simon looked up at the darkening sky one last time. The yellow Eye was gone, but the pressure remained.
The First Test was over. The War for the Light had begun.