Peace had always been a fragile thing in the Moonborn clans.
Now it was splintering.
Because when a leader rises with fire in one hand and shadow in the other, some bow...
And others reach for their blades.
---
Whispers in the Bloodhall
The Bloodhall was supposed to be sacred.
Where oaths were sworn.
Where ancient rivals set aside pride for the survival of the race.
But tonight, it rang with the sound of divided loyalties.
> "He merged with Revenant power."
"He's not the Flameborn King anymore."
"He's something else. Something cursed."
Kael stood at the center, tall and silent, while the alphas of the Moonborn tribes shouted over each other like rabid dogs.
Drayk stood behind him, hands clenched.
Sylah stood at the door, blades drawn—not for enemies from outside…
> But for traitors within.
Lina stepped forward, her voice ringing out.
> "Kael saved us all.
He survived the Trial of the Forsaken Flame.
He carries both bloodlines, yes—
But maybe that's exactly what we need."
Alpha Orun rose from his seat, face hard.
> "Or maybe he's the death of everything we built."
---
Rebellion Unmasked
That night, Sylah uncovered a secret meeting in the ruins beneath Varok's Rise.
Six alphas.
A pact of betrayal.
> "We move at moonfall," said Orun. "Before he turns into something we can't kill."
Sylah didn't wait.
She drew her knives and stepped into the circle like a shadow.
> "Then let's see if you bleed like men—
Or like cowards."
---
Assassination Attempt
Kael woke to the smell of blood and smoke.
Assassins in the hall.
A blade in his side.
But he did not scream.
He shifted.
Silver-black fire erupted from his flesh, and the wolf that rose was no longer just Moonborn.
It was something more.
Claws of living dusk.
Eyes burning with twin suns.
He tore through the rebels like a storm given teeth.
But one escaped.
Alpha Orun.
---
The Moonfall Break
By morning, Kael had purged the traitors from the inner circle.
But the damage was done.
Two major tribes—Redfang and Duskwind—declared neutrality.
Several allied packs went silent.
Lina entered Kael's chamber, her expression grim.
> "We've fractured."
Kael stood at the window, watching the sunrise struggle through smoky skies.
> "Then we rebuild."
"But how?" Lina asked.
> "With fear?"
"With power?"
Kael turned.
> "With fire."
---
The Revenants Stir
In the north, the Revenant King laughed.
He stood before a wall of black glass, where Kael's image flickered—burning, bleeding, alive.
> "They turn on him."
> "Good."
Behind him, the Nine Revenant Lords knelt.
> "Unleash the first horde."
> "Let them taste despair."
---
A Wolf Alone
That night, Kael walked alone through the Gravewood—a forest where Moonborn heroes were buried under trees that whispered their names.
He stopped at a grave marked only by a fang.
His father's.
> "You gave me this curse," he said. "But I carry it now."
He pressed h
is hand to the stone.
The flame within him flickered.
> Not silver.
Not black.
But both.
And then he whispered—
> "Let them come."
> "Let them all come."
> "I am Ashfang now."