They ran for nearly half an hour—through roots that clawed at their boots, through hanging moss thick as curtains, through pockets of steam that tasted metallic on the tongue. None of them spoke. Nova led, eyes flashing silver in pulses, sensing something none of them could name.
Then her head snapped toward a rocky outcrop half-buried under vines.
Before anyone could ask, Nova blurred forward toward a slit in the stone—too small, too dark, too suspicious.
"Nova—wait, don't—"
Too late.
She ducked and slid straight into the narrow opening like gravity was a suggestion.
"Nova!" Jax called, voice cracking between panic and disbelief.
He dove after her, his thermal weave armor scraping stone. The chute was steeper than it looked—more like a granite throat—and he skidded down with no control over his speed.
Fin, Rex, Aeron, and Hyran sprinted after but were forced to stop at the entrance; the shaft was too tight, too angled, too risky for all of them at once.
Jax dropped the final few feet—hard. Hard enough that it made even him wince.
Nova was already on the ground below, dazed, brushing dirt from her hands, eyes adjusting to the dim cavern.
She barely had time to inhale.
TWANG— TWANG— TWANG.
A volley of arrows shot out of the darkness straight for her heart.
Jax's instincts detonated.
His shield slammed into existence with a crack of sapphire, and he grabbed Nova, twisting, dragging her tight against his chest as the arrows ricocheted off his barrier with metallic shrieks.
He held her so close he could barely breathe, the smell of her hair and blood and fear mixing with the echo of the arrows hitting stone.
"You've got to stop scaring the shit out of me," Jax muttered, kissing her forehead.
Nova turned into his chest, arms wrapping around him. She wasn't hiding the tremble in her body. Not after the vines. Not after the vampire king. Her eyes were red, breath shaking.
Then the entire cavern rumbled.
A deep, rolling vibration shook dust from the ceiling. The ground trembled under their feet as if something massive had landed on the surface. Or many somethings.
Nova stiffened.
"Jax…" she whispered, voice cracking. "That's them coming back."
Her panic surged down the matebond so intensely he felt it in his ribs.
"It's okay, baby," Jax whispered, gripping her tighter. He pressed his forehead to hers and grinned. "If we survive this, I'm absolutely bragging about it."
She let out a small laugh, tension easing in her chest slightly.
They heard another rumble—closer this time. Jax swallowed and forced his own fear down. He glanced around the cavern, searching for threats.
The space was larger than he first realized.
Ancient Draken-Vorah runes carved into the stone flared in response to the vibrations above them, lighting up one by one like a sequence being awakened.
"What is this place…?" Jax muttered.
Before she could answer, Rex's mindlink came through sharp.
Rex:Jax, Nova—status?
Jax:We're in a cavern. There's a fall at the end. Area is secure.
Three bodies dropped from the opening above like someone had thrown them out of the sky.
Hyran hit the ground first with a graceless thud.
Aeron was right behind him, yelping the whole way down.
Rex landed last—on his feet, of course—dusting off his shoulders.
Aeron groaned, pushing himself upright. "That was not a fall, Jax. That was a vertical betrayal."
Nova blinked back tears—quick, fragile ones—and Jax saw all of them. Rex felt it too through the matebond, a sharp pang in his chest that made his jaw tighten.
She turned to the glowing runes carved into the cavern wall. Her eyes flashed silver. She lifted her hand and spoke in Draken-Vorah—each syllable ancient and melodic, like metal on stone.
Hyran straightened, translating in a reverent whisper:
"Reveal the passage the Ancients sealed from all but their blood."
The wall trembled.
Dust sifted down in soft clouds.
Then, with a grinding groan, the stone split cleanly into two halves—slow, deliberate, revealing a narrow crafted hallway beyond. Smooth walls. Geometric angles.
This was not nature. This was built. She stepped forward into the darkness, the air shifting around her like it recognized her.
The others followed, quiet and ready. The door shut behind them.
Ancient runes flared to life the moment Nova stepped inside, each symbol igniting in a soft, eerie white-blue glow. The light crawled down the stones like liquid, illuminating the narrow corridor ahead.
As they walked, the walls revealed etched murals—violent, brutal, unmistakably old.
Vampires tearing through wolves.
Limbs severed.
Bodies reknitting themselves like twisted marionettes pulled by invisible string.
Fangs buried in throats.
Eyes hollow and wrong.
Nova's steps stayed steady…but the next etching made Jax's breath catch.
It was larger than the others—centered like a warning.
A white wolf.
Beautiful. Dead. Its blood—silver—being drained into the mouths of vampires whose faces were carved with hunger and worship.
Jax's chest tightened. He stepped forward instantly, placing himself between Nova and the mural, before she could glance that way.
She didn't notice.
Her gaze stayed straight ahead, focused, her silver eyes reflecting the rune-light.
Aeron and Hyran exchanged a grim look.
Jax stayed planted in front of the carving until they'd moved far enough that she could no longer see it. Only then did he step back to her side, his hand brushing her lower back, grounding her—and maybe himself too.
Nova exhaled, unaware of what he'd just spared her from.
The tunnel narrowed as they pressed forward, the rune-light flickering like dying stars. The air tasted metallic, sharp, too cold. Nova's eyes flickered back to their usual green and she stepped forward, dazed.
"Everyone back!" Jax yelled.
Pale, skeletal hands—hundreds of them—burst through the floor cracks, clawing wildly, grabbing ankles, boots, armor. They weren't bones. They weren't stone. Something in between—wrongly alive, jointed like spiders, grasping like desperate dying men.
Nova screamed high pitched, jumping. Her back hit Jax's chest and eyes flashed silver.
She slashed them with gold light, but every severed hand kept crawling, scratching for skin.
Rex cursed, kicking one away as more hands dragged over the floor like a tidal wave.
"Run!" Aeron yelled. "Nova—go!"
They sprinted, dodging grasping fingers as the floor cracked open behind them like a stone graveyard waking up.
Nova skidded onto a narrow section of solid ground. The whole thing lit up beneath her feet. A gleaming sigil.
She gasped in complete terror, heart pounding. She knew exactly what this was because she'd read about it before. She dove off it into a connecting hall. The plate exploded.
She had already dove off the plate before Hyran shouted. "That's a blood trigger — Nova move out of there!"
She was already on her feet running at full speed just as metal spikes came down behind her quickly. To their horror.
The floor screamed—a metallic shriek—and ancient mechanisms fired to life all down the corridor.
Blades, arrows, spears, chains—an entire execution system designed for white wolf blood—shot from the walls in a synchronized sequence of death.
Rex was there a second later grabbing Nova, Jax behind him shielding the group.
Nova's heart was pounding, but her breathing was steady.
Jax felt her panic however. More than either of the first tasks they did, this one was pushing her. Compared to the other ones, she also didn't know where all the landminds were.
"You're okay," Rex said calmly. "This is just the hallway trying to murder us."
"I much prefer death puzzles," Aeron muttered.
That did it.
Nova laughed, a breathy, startled sound, and felt her pulse finally slow.
They moved on until they reached an intersection where multiple corridors branched away into shadow.
"Do you know which way, Nova?" Hyran asked.
She nodded, lifting her hand as Jax's magic flared instinctively to her call. A gold shield wrapped around them, humming low and steady. She stepped forward.
The moment they crossed the threshold, she froze.
A memory clawed its way up from somewhere deep and buried.
In that instant, a spear tore through Jax's shield like glass.
Rex reacted instantly, hooking an arm around her waist and yanking her back as Jax threw another barrier up. Arrows screamed past, ricocheting wildly.
Another spear dropped from above.
Nova felt it before she saw it. She shoved Rex hard out of the line of fire and dove, the spear missing her by an inch as the floor gave out beneath her.
Without thinking, Jax dove headfirst after her as the corridor collapsed, stone ripping at his arms. He hit the bottom hard, knocking the breath from his lungs.
Above them, the floor snapped shut.
Rex skidded to the edge and lunged—but the stone sealed seamlessly, rejecting him like a closed gate. No crack. No give. As if the passage had never existed.
The tunnel around Jax warbled. Shifted.
"Nova?" he called, voice sharp, echoing into the dark. "Nova, where are you?"
His eyes strained as they adjusted, hands sweeping blindly over cold stone. Empty. She wasn't there.
No answer. Then he heard her. Soft. Fractured. Terrified.
"Jax…" The voice trembled. "Jax, please…"
He froze. It was her voice. Perfect. Every inflection was right, but it came from the walls all around him.
"Please… please…" the voices whispered, overlapping, breaking apart and reforming.
"I'm lost…"
He felt her fear spike through the matebond, sharp enough to make his chest ache. He could smell her. Close. Too close to be unseen.
Jax closed his eyes and spoke into their mindlink, forcing his voice steady.
Jax: Nova, where are you?
Her answer came ragged, fraying at the edges.
Nova: Jax… I keep hearing your voice.
Cold dread slid down his spine.
Before he could respond, Rex cut in, fast and firm.
Rex: It's not real, Nova. None of it is. We're hearing it too.
Jax froze as more pain stabbed through his chest, sudden and vicious. Before he responded, Fin's voice surged into the link.
Fin: Nova, breathe. I feel you, baby. Take a breath. None of this is real.
Jax felt her trying to steady herself.
Fin: Look around, Nova. Is there anything near you that Jax can use to find you?
The question was calm. Practical. Perfectly timed. Fin wasn't there. But somehow, he understood exactly what was happening.
And Nova heard him.
Nova: They keep pulling me into por—
Her voice cut off before she could finish her sentence.
"Nova!" Jax was already moving, sprinting blind through the dark, following her scent.
Click.
He skidded to a halt. The sound echoed behind him. Sharp. Deliberate.
Jax turned slowly.
From the shadows at the far end of the corridor, wolf skeletons embedded in the walls began to twitch.
One skull rotated. One skull turned. Then another. Then five.
Stone cracked as ancient bones tore themselves free. Joints bent the wrong way. Spines twisted backward. Jaws hung open at impossible angles.
Wolf shapes—once sacred—now perverted into something silent, predatory, and utterly wrong—stepped forward on skeletal limbs.
Their hollow eye sockets fixed on him.
And they began to stalk.
Jax ran at alpha speed, down the corridor.
Fin: Nova, give us a status update.
Nothing.
Jax felt her panic surge again, sharp and electric, slamming through the matebond. His wolf snarled, claws raking at the inside of his skin.
Then arms burst from the walls and seized him.
They dragged him forward through the chaos. Instinct flared and he blasted them back with magic, forcing space.
Jax saw a flash up ahead and his eyes locked on Nova.
She was hauling herself out of what looked like a portal, caught halfway between worlds. One knee braced against stone, one arm still swallowed by darkness. Her eyes blazed silver as she lifted her free hand and unleashed a blast of magic, hurling something unseen back through the rift.
She tore herself free and ran.
Then the walls moved.
Hands—wrong hands, neither living nor dead, something trapped in between—shot out of the stone and clamped around her ankle.
"Nova!" Jax roared.
She fell and slammed hard onto the ground, as a dark tendril dragged her back toward another portal.
She grasped the stone floor, tried to anchor herself. But her hand slipped.
Silver light detonated around her in a violent burst.
She screamed, high pitched. Both hands flew to her ears as if she could hear something that he couldn't and it was tearing her apart.
Jax felt her pain through the matebond. He fought like a beast to reach her, muscles straining, magic flaring—but he couldn't break through.
The runes overhead flared violently. Sections of stone lit in pulsing slabs of light, and suddenly they weren't looking at carvings anymore.
They were looking at echoes of the dead. Or from what Jax could tell, moments of dying—replaying themselves.
Wolves screaming.
Vampires pouring over them like locusts.
Bodies ripping open—then reforming—only to be torn apart again.
Shadows dragging wolves into the stone as if the wall itself were hungry.
But the echoes didn't stay contained to the walls.
Hands reached out of the scenes, tangible, clawing at their clothes, their hair, their skin—trying to drag Jax into a death already lived.
The world lurched. Jax was yanked sideways and hurled through a portal. He slammed into another corridor—and immediately into slaughter.
Vampires swarmed him, pale and feral, tearing into wolves locked in an endless cycle of death. Fangs ripped throats open. Claws split ribcages. Wolves screamed as they were ripped apart—only for their bodies to knit back together, just enough to be killed again.
"No," Jax snarled.
Sapphire magic detonated from his hands. He blasted the vampires back in a violent wave, bodies disintegrating into ash and shadow. They screamed as they burned, but more poured in, relentless.
A vampire lunged—Pain exploded through his leg. Jax roared as claws raked deep, blood spilling hot down his calf.
Real.
With a snarl, he drove a burst of magic into the creature's chest, obliterating it, then dove headfirst back through the portal he'd been dragged into.
He hit the original hall hard.
Immediately, arms surged from the walls again, seizing him, dragging him back toward the stone. The gash in his leg burned as blood soaked his boot, proof this wasn't illusion.
Across the corridor, Nova was fighting her own pull.
Hands clamped around her, dragging her toward a dark portal yawning open behind her. She twisted, silver light flaring as she blasted a hand back with magic, shredding the grasp long enough to rip free.
She scrambled to her feet wheezing.
Jax:Nova, run!
She was yanked into a portal at that second. Jax felt her panic surge again.
Rex: Where are you?
Jax: We're —
Before he could finish, he was yanked back into a portal and the mindlink was cut off.
The scene he was pulled into was similar to the first one. Jax snarled and blasted vampires back with a burst of sapphire magic but more kept coming. Fur exploded over muscle as he shifted mid-stride.
He dove back through the portal he was pulled into, landing in the hall and more arms pulled him. He ripped them apart and ran at alpha speed, tearing down the stone passage in a blur of black, driven by bond and fury.
Nova managed to wrench herself free from another portal, tumbling hard onto the stone.
She was hyperventilating and didn't have time to stand before a dark tendril coiled around her ankle and yanked her back toward the opening.
She scrabbled for a grip, fingers catching on a jagged stone. With her free hand, she blasted the tendril with silver magic.
It didn't flinch or recoil.
She released the stone and let herself be dragged. In the same breath, she tore an arrow from her quiver and plunged it into the tendril.
An eerie, piercing scream ripped through the corridor. The tendril recoiled violently and released her.
Nova scrambled away, failing to get her feet under her as panic stole her breath.
Jax mindlinked, voice in full command.
Jax:Nova. Shift. Now. Don't think—run.
He didn't soften it. Didn't cushion the fear. Fear would get her killed.
Jax:Use your wolf. Get low. Don't stop for anything.
Ahead of him, the tunnel buckled again.
Nova was still running. Silver light blasted from her hands as more grabbed her. She tried to shift mid run, but couldn't. There were too many things pulling her body for her to shift.
She turned a corner, and Jax lost her. Her presence vanished from his line of sight, swallowed by stone and shadow. Through the bond, her panic spiked—raw, frantic—like she was fighting for her life.
Across the realms, Fin felt it all at once. The fear. The strain. And something else, wrong in a way he couldn't ignore.
She wasn't shifting. He pushed into the link immediately.
Fin: Jax, do you have eyes on her? I can feel her—something's off. I don't think she can shift.
The reply came fast, tight with tension.
Jax: I just lost her.
Aeron's voice cut in next, controlled but sharp.
Aeron: Nova, can you hear us?
No answer.
Redmoon spoke, joining the conversation.
Redmoon: Status report.
Rex: We've been separated. No visual on Nova.
Redmoon: Hyran, can you hear us?
No answer.