The chamber trembled beneath Aiden's paws as his body finished its unnatural transformation. His fur, now as black as a starless night, rippled with an energy he had never felt before. The Moonshadow's power had always been a part of him, but this was different—this was deeper, older, as if something ancient had been lurking beneath his skin, waiting for the right moment to awaken.
Solara took a step back, her golden eyes wide. "Aiden… your shadow, it's moving on its own."
He glanced down. She was right. His shadow stretched unnaturally across the chamber floor, curling and twisting like living tendrils, pulsing in sync with his breath.
The monster—the thing that had broken free from its chains—had stopped its advance. Its dozens of pale, milky eyes twitched, locked onto him.
"What... are... you?" The creature's many mouths twisted, its voice a distorted, wet gurgle.
Aiden clenched his claws. He didn't know the answer. He only knew that his body remembered something his mind did not. And right now, his instincts told him one thing:
This monster had to die.
Then it moved.
Faster than before.
One second, it was hunched in the center of the chamber. The next, it was lunging—its grotesque limbs stretching far beyond what should be possible, jagged claws slashing toward him.
Aiden didn't dodge.
Instead, his body reacted on its own.
His form dissolved into pure shadow, a formless void that the beast's claws passed through harmlessly. Then, in an instant, he reappeared behind it, his fangs already descending.
He bit deep.
The moment his teeth met flesh, the monster screamed.
Not just in pain—but in fear.
Aiden felt its essence pour into him, a thick, viscous energy that pulsed through his veins like liquid night. His body trembled, his vision blurring with strange images—memories that weren't his.
A temple.
A doorway to the abyss.
A beast unleashed.
Aiden staggered back, panting, his head pounding. The monster writhed, its form flickering like unstable light.
Solara's voice cut through the haze. "Aiden! Whatever you did, do it again!"
The creature twisted toward her, its mouths parting to release a horrific screech. The air itself rippled, and cracks spiderwebbed along the chamber walls.
Then, something else moved.
A new presence.
From the far side of the chamber, past the fading crimson glow, three figures emerged from the darkness.
Hunters.
The first was a towering, gaunt figure clad in segmented black armor, its helmet crowned with twisted antlers. It carried a spear as tall as itself, the tip wreathed in faint, writhing mist.
The second was smaller, moving with unnatural grace. Its face was concealed beneath a bone-white mask, its robes stitched from shadow itself.
The third was the worst.
It was human. Or at least, it had been once. Its face was hidden behind a veil of crimson cloth, but Aiden could smell the blood soaking through. It did not carry a weapon. It did not need one.
The veiled one raised a hand.
And the monster—the thing Aiden had been fighting—froze.
It let out a strangled, inhuman noise, its body convulsing.
The veiled figure spoke. Its voice was calm.
Measured.
Patient.
"You have devoured what was meant to be sealed."
Aiden's claws twitched. "Who are you?"
The figure stepped forward, ignoring the way the beast still writhed under its control.
"We are the Maw. And you have stolen from us."
Aiden bared his fangs. "That thing was going to kill us."
The antlered warrior tilted its head. Its voice was dry, distant. "That thing was ours."
Solara stepped beside Aiden, her wings half-spread in warning. "So what, you're here to take it back?"
The veiled one chuckled. "No. It is ruined now. Tainted by your wolf's touch." It exhaled, as if disappointed. "But you, Aiden..."
It lifted its hand again.
Aiden's shadow began to rise.
It was being pulled from him.
Panic jolted through him. His legs buckled, his breath hitching as his own form began to unravel, as if something fundamental to his existence was being peeled away.
"You are the real prize."
Aiden roared, forcing his body to move. His claws raked across his own shadow, severing whatever tether the veiled figure had tried to create. The chamber shook. The torches flickered wildly.
Solara launched herself forward, golden fire bursting from her wings.
The veiled one simply raised a hand.
The flames died midair.
Solara's eyes widened. "What—"
Then, with a mere flick of its wrist, the veiled figure threw her across the room. She slammed into a pillar, coughing violently as she fell.
Aiden snapped.
He lunged, shadows curling around him, his fangs bared for the kill.
The veiled one did not move.
Then—pain.
Aiden felt it before he saw it.
The spear.
The antlered warrior had moved in the blink of an eye, and now the spear was buried in Aiden's chest.
He choked, a sharp gasp escaping his throat as the weapon pulsed, draining something vital.
His strength.
His shadows.
His soul.
"You are a mistake," the warrior murmured.
Aiden's vision blurred.
He couldn't move.
The veiled one crouched beside him, tilting its head as if in amusement. "Such a rare thing you are, wolf. You walk between two realms. You should not exist."
Aiden snarled—or tried to. Blood bubbled between his teeth.
The veiled one leaned in. Its voice was a whisper, yet it filled the entire chamber.
"You will be unmade."
Then, something howled.
Not Aiden.
Not Solara.
But something deep beneath them.
The entire temple shook. The walls cracked further, the crimson glow pulsing wildly.
The veiled one stiffened.
The antlered warrior took a step back.
And from the abyss below—
The real monster stirred.
Aiden, barely conscious, felt it in his bones. A presence older than the Maw. Older than the temple itself.
The veiled figure hesitated.
Then, it exhaled.
"You are fortunate, wolf. The abyss calls for us."
The spear vanished.
Aiden collapsed, gasping as the weight of death lifted from him.
The Maw retreated into the darkness.
But before the veiled one disappeared, it left him with a final whisper.
"We will return. And next time... you will be ours."
Then, they were gone.
The chamber fell silent.
Solara crawled to Aiden's side, shaking. "We have to leave. Now."
Aiden groaned, forcing himself up. Every movement burned. His body felt wrong.
And beneath them—
The abyss howled again.
Something worse was coming.