The warning did not come as sound.
It came as absence.
Birdsong faded first. Then insects. Even the wind seemed to hesitate as it crossed the broken valley below the Ardyn ruins. Shadows stretched unnaturally long, bending against the direction of the moonlight.
The lieutenants felt it instinctively.
Reth was the first to reach for his weapon. "We're not alone."
Kael did not move.
"They're already here," he said.
From the treeline below, figures emerged — not charging, not hiding. They walked openly, unhurried, as if the land itself belonged to them.
Seven in total.
All wore ash-colored cloaks stitched with runes meant to suppress supernatural presence. Their movements were disciplined, precise. These were not hunters or scouts.
They were collectors.
The rogue vampire exhaled slowly. "Covenant."
The word carried weight. History. Erasure.
One of the figures stepped forward, lowering his hood. His eyes were dull silver, his skin marked with ritual scars rather than age.
"Kael Ardyn," the man called out calmly. "By the authority of the Covenant of Ash, you are declared an anomaly."
Kael tilted his head slightly, studying him the way one might study a flawed design.
"That's your opening?" Kael asked. "No threat. No ultimatum."
The man smiled faintly. "You misunderstand. This is not a negotiation. It's a confirmation."
Behind him, the others spread out, forming a wide arc — each holding artifacts humming with contained power. Chains etched with blood-runes. Blades that drank light instead of reflecting it.
The werewolf lieutenant growled low in his throat. "Those weapons aren't meant to kill."
"No," Kael said quietly. "They're meant to contain."
Reth's jaw tightened. "They think they can cage you."
Kael's expression didn't change. But the shadows around his feet shifted, restless.
"Everyone," Kael said calmly, without raising his voice. "Do not engage unless I tell you to."
The human hunter hesitated. "With respect… there are seven of them."
Kael glanced at him. "Exactly."
The Covenant agent raised a hand.
"Observe," he said, almost politely.
The ground beneath the ruins pulsed.
A suppression field snapped into place, ancient and refined. The air thickened, like breathing through water. The lieutenants felt it immediately — strength dampened, senses dulled, the sigils on their arms dimming.
The rogue vampire cursed under his breath. "They're cutting us off."
Kael inhaled once.
Then stepped forward.
The suppression field bent.
Not shattered. Not resisted.
Bent.
The Covenant agent's eyes widened — just a fraction.
"That's… not possible."
Kael's crimson sigil surfaced slowly, not flaring, not raging. Controlled. Precise. Veins darkened beneath his skin, but his posture remained relaxed.
"You built this field to silence vampires," Kael said. "And to break werewolves."
Lightning whispered across his shoulders.
"I am neither."
One of the Covenant enforcers moved without waiting for command, hurling a chain that split into dozens midair, each link glowing with binding script.
Kael didn't dodge.
The chains wrapped around his torso—
—and stopped.
Not because they failed.
Because Kael grabbed them.
For the first time, his teeth showed — not fangs, but something sharper, more irregular, more predatory.
"Lesson one," Kael said softly.
He pulled.
The enforcer was yanked off his feet, dragged screaming across the ground before slamming into the ruins with bone-crushing force. The chains unraveled, their runes flickering in confusion.
Kael turned slightly, still holding the broken links.
"I do not fight like you expect."
The Covenant agent raised his hand sharply. "All units—!"
Kael moved.
Not fast.
Instant.
He appeared between two enforcers, shadows collapsing inward as lightning detonated outward. One was thrown clear off the cliff. The other hit the ground hard enough to crater stone.
Still, Kael staggered.
Just once.
Reth noticed immediately. "Kael—"
"I know," Kael said through clenched teeth.
The hybrid form was pressing against its limit. Veins pulsed violently now, crimson light flickering unevenly. The suppression field wasn't stopping him — but it was taxing him.
The Covenant agent smiled grimly. "There it is. You burn brighter… but shorter."
Kael straightened anyway.
"Then watch closely," he said. "This is me restraining myself."
He raised one hand.
The shadows didn't surge.
They listened.
They peeled away from the ruins, from the trees, from beneath the Covenant's own feet — forming towering silhouettes behind Kael, vast and patient.
The lieutenants felt it then.
Not fear.
Recognition.
The werewolf whispered, almost reverently, "He's not drawing power…"
Reth finished it quietly. "He's exercising dominion."
Kael's eyes locked onto the Covenant agent.
"Go back," he said. "Tell them the hybrid exists. Tell them the Ardyn bloodline has returned."
Lightning cracked the sky.
"And tell them," Kael added, voice dropping, "next time… I won't test you."
The Covenant agent hesitated.
Then smiled.
"That won't be necessary," he said. "They're already watching."
Far above, something ancient shifted.
And Kael felt it.
The hybrid form began to recede — not in defeat, but in warning.
This battle was over.
The war had just been acknowledged.