The storm broke over Moon River territory in violent sheets, as if the sky itself were trying to wash the land clean of its sins. Lightning split the clouds into jagged wounds of white fire, illuminating the forest below in stark flashes. With each strike, shadow crawled across the wolf den's ancient stone walls-walls that once protected a proud and noble pack but had long since become the facade of something darker. Tonight, justice was coming.
A column of armored figures emerged from the tree line, their steps silent despite the soaked earth beneath them. The Guard marched like a single, unbreakable force- fifty elite warriors, their runic armor glowing a righteous, pulsing blue. Each room shimmered with a sacred vow: defend the innocent, seek truth, destroy corruption.
Captain Maelor led at their front, his twin blades sheathed across his back, both humming with a low fae resonance. His jaw clenched as he surveyed the territory. Three days ago, Stacy and Colt had returned to their land with fae children rescued from Moon River. Their testimonies had been horrifying-whispers of experiments, spell chambers, children forced to endure impossible pain. The High Council had ordered an immediate intervention.
Moon River responded to the summons with silence. Captain Maelor had known then, something monstrous was festering here. Captain Maelor didn't become Head Guard by ignoring his instincts.
The storm intensified as the approached the main gate. Oddly, no patrols met them. No warriors. Not even a boundary sentinel. Moon River was one of the oldest packs; they were never unguarded. He exchanged a look with Lieutenant Vyra, her lavender eyes narrowing.
"They knew we were coming" she said softly.
"No" Maelor replied. "If they knew, they'd be standing in our way." He placed his palm on the cold metal gate. "This is abandonment...or cowardice."
He gestured sharply. "Break it."
Four Guard members stepped forward. Their tattooed hands pressed against the steel. With a synchronized exhale, they released a wave of powered runic force. The gates buckled, screeched, then folded like softened wax. Rain and wind howled through the opening as the Guard flooded in.
Inside the courtyard, something felt wrong. The place was immaculate-too clean. No overturned crates. No sign of a struggle. No scent of warriors who should've been patrolling It felt lik walking into a den that had been forcible scrubbed of life.
Then Lieutenant Vyra stiffened, nose lifting to the wind. "Blood. Old. Sour"
"And something else. Rotting spell residue." Maelor motioned toward the eastern training tunnels.
Moon River's tunnels were legendary-built centuries ago to train pups in shifting, combat, and endurance. But tonight, they pulsed with a faint aura of corruption. Some spaces carried echoes of suffering so deep Maelor felt in his teeth.
They reached a rusted iron door sealed with makeshift chains. clearly added in haste. A faint whimper escaped from the other side. Every Guard warrior froze.
Another sound-a tiny cough.
Maelor's voice dropped to a whisper. "Open it."
The door was ripped from its hinges.
Time stopped.
The Children
The room was long and narrow, lanterns hanging from hooks too high for small hands to reach. Against the stone walls-shackled, bruised, shivering-sat wolf pups. At least a dozen. Their limbs were thin, their hair matted with sweat and grime. Rune-burned shackles glowed faintly around their wrists, sealing them to the wall with cruel spell craft.
One little girl flinched and shielded her face when light spilled in. Her voice was a rasp. "Are you...real? Please don't hurt us again..."`
Vyra's heart cracked. "No one here will hurt you. You're safe now."
The Guard surged into movement. Chains shattered under their magic, sparks flying like dying stars. Some children immediately clung to the warriors. Others cried quietly, too exhausted to stand. Maelor knelt beside a boy with blue-streaked hair and wide blue eyes. His skin bore scars in intricate, spiraling patterns. Carved symbols-some old dark fae runes, others crude wolf sigils-cut into him as if someone tried to force magic where it did not belong.
Maelor's voice shook. "Who did this to you?"
The boy stared blankly "The Alpha said we could be strong. Said he needed us for the ritual. we just had to ...survive."
A healer gasped behind him. "The runes-these are grafting sigils. Someone was trying to fuse fae essence into these pups."
Maelor gripped the boy's hand gently. "You're safe now." The boy blinked once. It looked like he didn't believe him.
As the Guard carried the children out, more cries echoed deeper within the tunnels. They moved quickly, urgency rising with every step.
The lower tunnels reeked of metal and fear. Runes along the walls had been carved hastily, some dripping with dried blood. The passed a narrow room where chains hung from the ceiling and broken bones littered the floor. A tiny training arena with claw marks gouged into the stone like someone had been forced to shift again and again until they collapsed. Vyra held up a shattered crystal vial from a shelf littered with alchemical tools.
Inside, a smear of shimmering residue. "Fae essence" she snarled "Drained. Forced extraction." Vyra glanced at the rows of potion bottles labeled:
Subject 4G- Essence Stability
Subject 7A-Wolf resistance
Test Cycle: Week 11- Failure
She swallowed hard. "They weren't just experimenting. They were studying them like livestock."
A scream echoed from deeper down. The Guard sprinted.
They found another chamber-this one far worse. Massive glyphs covered the floor in a sickening pattern of moon silver dust and blood. A ritual circle. In the center, a boy sat hugging his knees. His eyes were cloudy, pupils washed pale as if drained of color. Maelor slowly approached. "Little one? Can you hear me?"
The boy didn't blink. His voice was hollow. "They said...the Shadow Man would make us perfect. That if we didn't cry, we'd be chosen"
Maelor stiffened. "The Shadow Man?"
The boy nodded once, trembling. "He wore a mask. He whispered in Alpha Richard's ear."
The Dark Fae Commander. The creature Stacy encountered in the vision of her parents. The same one that manipulated Richard and George. The ancient entity that orchestrated Alpha Edward and Luna Hazel's imprisonment. The one obsessed with the Twin Veil Prophecy- and terrified of Olivia and Stacy's bond. Fate had led them here, Maelor realized. To truth, to evidence. To war.
The Guard pressed deeper still, eventually reaching a locked set of double doors. Magical seals shimmered beneath the surface. They had clearly been meant to protect something the Alpha wanted hidden. Maelor sliced them apart with a burst of energy. Inside was Alpha Richard's and Alpha's George's private chamber.
Lavish carpets. Gold filigree. A king's arrogance on full display. And on his desk-half burned journals and ledgers.
Vyra picked one up and began reading aloud. Her voice cracked halfway through. "Experiment Log: Phase Five. Wolf pups respond to grafting at a higher failure rate than fae subjects. Only 4% survive repeat shifts. Fae children remain the most viable options..." She flipped a page. "The twins threaten everything. The Moon Goddess cannot control both. If the Veil anchors them fully our work is undone. Olivia must be isolated. Stacy must be broken."
Maelor's vision blurred with rage.
Vyra covered her mouth. "They...they planned to use the twins in a ritual. Or kill them to stop the Moon Goddess from anchoring them."
Maelor found a scroll sealed with dark wax. He broke it open. Inside were instructions-ritual steps involving the Dark Fae Commander. Steps requiring children as "conduits". Maelor held the scroll over a candle and watched it burn.
As Maelor sifted through the final stack of ledgers on Richard's desk, a thin, oil stained parchment slipped free and fluttered onto the floor. He unfolded it- and his breath stilled. It was a hand drawn map, marked with layered wards and hidden passages leading deep into the northern mountains. At it center, circled in red ink, lay a single notation. "Containment Site-Alpha Edward and Luna Hazel" The room seemed to tilt as the weight of the discovery hit him. The children, the experiments, the prophecy- all of it was rooted in this prison. Maelor closed his fist around the map, jaw set. "We've found them" he whispered.
"This is no longer a raid" he said "it's a declaration of war"
A Guard member rushed toward the Alpha's chamber and skidded around the corner, panting.
"Captain! There's-there's a chamber below the ritual hall. You need to see it."
When they arrived, Maelor understood why the runner looked sick. The chamber held three large stone tables. Shackles at each corner. Burn marks etched into the slabs. And on the far wall-murals. Drawn in a child's shaky hand. Some showed wolves crying. Others showed shadow creatures. Some showed twin girls being pulled apart by clawed hands. A depiction of the breaking of twin souls.
"Stacy and Olivia" Vyra whispered. "These children saw the experiments. They saw the Dark Fae Commander."
Maelor reached out and touched one mural. The rock flaked beneath his fingers. "They were torturing children to understand the prophecy."
As healers and rescuers moved in, Maelor raised his flare-staff. He ignited its core. Blue flames shot skyward like a comet streaking through the storm. The Guard's sacred signal.
A call for justice. A declaration to the world. Moon River had committed war crimes. "All members of Moon River leadership involved in these atrocities will be hunted" Maelor announced. His voice shook the chamber. "Their titles stripped. Their territories seized. Their crimes laid bare for every pack and fae clan to see."
Rain roared. Thunder rolled. The storm raged louder than before, as if the Moon Goddess herself had heard. Maelor looked toward the distant horizon-toward Stacy, Colt, Olivia, and the children they had already saved. Toward the coming war.
"The Commander moves against the twins" he murmured "and we must move faster"
He turned to his warriors. "Save the innocent, and prepare for war."
The Guard lifted their weapons in unison.
Outside, the storm finally broke, and moonlight cut through the clouds like a silver blade.
The war for the Veil had begun.