The Echo of Betrayal
Kael ran through the darkness, lungs tearing for air, every step a desperate prayer hammered into cold stone. The straps of his pack dug into his shoulders. That pain kept him grounded while fear kept him alive.
Silence followed him. A silence heavier than the noise of battle. Damien, Elena, Marcus, Lysa — erased. The Valenhall team was gone. Only the group's discard still breathed.
They are dead. And I am alive.
Air in. Air out. Survival counted as victory.
Sick green light seeped from bioluminescent fungi. The dungeon pressed around him like wet skin. Drops fell from an unseen ceiling, a slow rhythm that announced doom.
He collapsed against a wall. His pulse hammered wildly, sweat and blood mixing on his skin. Then the quiet shifted.
A low rumble rose from the deep. A hunter stepping forward without fear of being seen.
Kael forced himself still. Two lights flickered in the dark. Blue. Cold.
The White Wolf.
Ritual of the Hunt
The creature sliced the darkness apart with impossible speed. White fur and muscle struck him like a falling boulder. His back smashed into stone. Stars exploded in his eyes.
Claws ripped his chest wide open. Fabric split. Blood sprayed warm down his torso.
A scream tore out of him from the oldest part of the human soul.
He rolled away. Fangs snapped shut where his throat had been a heartbeat earlier. His fingers, slick with his own blood, closed around the hilt of the rusted sword Damien had tossed at him.
He yanked it free. The wolf circled him with silent menace, gaze sharp with intelligence. An executioner choosing how to kill.
"Stay… stay back," he gasped.
The wolf dipped its head. Amusement. Then it leapt.
Time slowed. Kael raised the sword. Futile. Jaws clamped down on his forearm. Bone shattered like thin glass.
Pain flared brighter than the world. The wolf shook its head. His arm broke in new places. He struck blindly at the muzzle. Useless. The sword slipped from his numbing fingers, clattering away.
Strength left him. Vision shrank.
The wolf released him. Kael fell, his arm hanging twisted, blood pooling beneath him. The beast stepped back, muscles coiled for the final strike.
No… not like this… Liam…
It sprang.
The Judge with Red Eyes
A massive black claw burst from the shadows.
It speared through the White Wolf midair. Blood sprayed the walls. The beast hit stone and slid down, twitching once before going still. The blue eyes dimmed.
Kael froze. Terror closed his throat.
The tunnel filled entirely with the dragon's bulk. Black scales devoured reflections. Folded wings scraped the walls. Breath thick with sulfur washed across Kael's face.
Two red eyes locked on him. Runes glowed inside their depths. Both eyes glowed now. The ruined socket from before was whole again.
A soothing green aura spread over Kael. Heat sealed his torn chest. His arm straightened and bones reformed. Every scar vanished. Even the ones buried deep.
He trembled, healed yet trapped in fear.
The dragon's voice rumbled like shifting mountains.
"Tell me, little human. Why did you run?"
"For… for life," Kael stammered. "Breathing means winning."
A low sound rolled from the dragon's throat. A distant, ancient laugh.
"Interesting. You left your allies to die."
"They treated me like filth," Kael said. "Their deaths are a gift. So… thank you."
The red gaze pierced deeper, searching his soul.
"Stand."
Kael obeyed, legs shaking.
"What a frail sight," the dragon growled. "You let a puppy bite you apart."
"It was a giant wolf!"
The wings flexed. The tunnel shook.
"And what am I then, in your eyes?"
"A mistake. An S-rank monster inside an E-rank dungeon. It feels wrong."
Dark sorrow clouded the dragon's stare.
"I am no dragon. Someone imprisoned me in this shape. They twisted me into a guardian. A judge in a trial."
"What trial?"
"I do not know. I am a pawn on a board too vast to see. And you are the final candidate."
The dragon leaned close.
"No talent. No gift. You carry nothing of value. You are ordinary."
Kael swallowed panic.
"My brother. Liam. He is sick. Without me, he dies. I crawl through mud and blood for him."
"And how will you protect him with such weakness?"
Teeth like swords gleamed.
"You are paperwork. An obligation to erase so I may finally rest."
A tremor built beneath their feet. Growls multiplied.
Eyes ignited in the dark. Dozens. Hundreds. The White Wolves were back — a living sea of hunger.
"Hundreds!?" Kael cried. "This is a nightmare!"
"I offer one more chance," the dragon proclaimed. "Change. Evolve. Become stronger than you are now. Or die trying."
Its body dissolved into black smoke, shrinking into nothing.
"Your trial begins, candidate. The rest belongs to you. Good luck."
The last thing to fade was the glint of red eyes.
Kael stood alone. No weapon. Three hundred jaws closing in.
The Hour of Judgment
The first wolf lunged. Teeth clamped into his leg. Bone cracked. Kael crashed to one knee. Another beast raked his back open. He rolled over, trying to shield his chest. Fatal mistake.
Three wolves latched onto him. One ripped into his arm. Another tore at his hand. A third crushed his thigh. Crunching sounds echoed.
His screams faded into broken groans. The agony drowned reason.
Meat tore from his shoulder. Teeth sank into his side. Blood gushed in violent spurts.
His sight blurred. The world darkened. Pain chewed him apart piece by piece.
"STOP!" he sobbed. "PLEASE! STOP!"
Claws raked his face. His cheek ripped away. A paw plunged into his eye. He felt it burst.
Tears of blood ran down his remaining eye.
"Dad… Mom…" His voice cracked. "It hurts… it hurts so much…"
Wolves backed away. They wanted him alive. They wanted more suffering.
Kael lay in shredded flesh. Bones showed through muscle. Organs spilled. Yet he still breathed. His mind clung to existence.
A glowing interface flickered before his last eye.
[ SYSTEM ALERT ]
[ ALL CONDITIONS MET ]
[ ANALYSIS: SURVIVAL INSTINCT — 100% ]
[ ANALYSIS: MENTAL RESILIENCE — 98% ]
[ ANALYSIS: WILL TO LIVE — 100% ]
[ RESULT: CANDIDATE APPROVED ]
Kael's lips shaped a single word:
Accept…
[ INPUT RECEIVED ]
[ INITIALIZATION STARTING ]
[ CELLULAR RECONSTRUCTION: 0% ]
His eye closed. His heart stopped.
Silence claimed the tunnel.
Kael Morse died.
[ CELLULAR RECONSTRUCTION: 1% ]
In the absolute dark, a spark ignited.