The Valley of Ashes stretched like an open scar in the heart of the Eldermyr forest. Even after thousands of years, the traces of the Great War were still visible: rocks split in two by ancient magical explosions, calcified trees frozen in twisted postures, shallow craters where the earth had never truly healed. The air itself seemed to carry the weight of the dead.
Miria and her group advanced in silence. Across from them, on the other side of the valley, a dark mass appeared. Vareck and his minions. They were at least twice as many. Vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, supernatural hunters and hybrids of all kinds… renegades.
The two camps stopped a few meters from each other.
Miria stepped forward at the head.
"Vareck. I'm here."
Vareck stepped forward in turn, an arrogant smile on his lips.
"Yes… I saw. Alone. And tell me… is it with *this* that you think you can defeat me?"
Miria made an amused pout and shook her head.
"Vareck… Vareck… That's always been your flaw. Believing yourself superior. Yet the Founders always told you never to underestimate your enemy."
Vareck's face twisted with rage.
"SILENCE! If you think that by talking to me about them you're going to make me change my mind… you're sorely mistaken. Prepare yourself, Miria. Today, you and your friends will go join the **Martyrs of Ash**."
He raised his hand.
"Attack!"
The horde of minions charged forward in a collective roar. Yet Miria and her group didn't move an inch. Miria closed her eyes for a second… then reopened them. A wave of pure energy exploded from her. The ground trembled. The air cracked. The first ranks of minions were thrown backward, disoriented, some collapsing to their knees under the magical pressure.
"Now," Miria ordered in a calm voice.
Miria's group launched forward.
Diana, Gale, Axel, Klaus, Isabella and Marlie fully transformed. Their bodies twisted with cracks of bone and flesh, becoming gigantic wolves with gleaming fangs. Axel, descendant of an ancient bloodline, was noticeably more massive than the others, his black fur streaked with silver. Bryan rushed forward with the speed of a pure-blood vampire, slicing throats with surgical precision. Eiden, a perfect mix of vampire and hunter, fought with magical blades and ancestral combat techniques. Kira and Alix wove spells of ice and fire at the same time as they used their vampiric strength. Katrina, despite her young appearance, launched complex runes with the ease of several decades of experience.
The impact was violent.
A renegade vampire tried to slash Bryan's throat. Bryan dodged with a fluid movement, broke his wrist with a sharp blow, then drove a magical stake into his heart. Further away, Klaus in wolf form leaped onto a sorcerer, his fangs closing on the man's arm before hurling him against a calcified rock. Isabella and Marlie fought back to back, their roars mingling with the sound of exploding spells.
Vareck watched the melee with a cruel smile… until his gaze met that of a wolf with ice-cold green eyes. The same gaze as Klaus. The same intensity.
Rage rose in him like a black tide.
Vareck's thought: *It's to save him that Léana sacrificed herself…*
Vareck transformed instantly. A monstrous wolf, larger and darker than the others, leaped across the battlefield, jaws open, ready to tear Klaus apart.
Klaus, busy fighting two hybrids, didn't see the threat coming.
An invisible force suddenly pushed him aside. Vareck crashed to the ground where Klaus had been a fraction of a second earlier. He returned to human form, short of breath, and looked up.
A young woman stood in front of him, one hand still raised, runes sparkling around her fingers. She was protecting Klaus with her body.
Vareck blinked. An impossible resemblance hit him full force.
"Katrina…?!"
He remained on his knees, incredulous.
"That's impossible… You… you should be dead…"
Katrina didn't have time to answer. Several of Vareck's minions threw themselves at her. She was forced to fight, launching barriers and magical projectiles with deadly precision. Vareck took advantage of the confusion to slip away.
He didn't get far.
An attack struck him in the back with terrifying force, propelling him several meters away. Vareck got up with difficulty, the taste of blood in his mouth, and turned around.
Asher stood there, hands in his pockets, an eternally mocking smile on his lips.
"Well, well… looks like someone is having trouble staying focused."