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Shadow Wolf v
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2024-10-29 19:42:56~ Halfway into the second week, eighteen werewolves were camping out in the woods. The warning Marx had given about a coming attack was being heeded. Daniel had all tents strategically placed, with watchers being sent out in a rotation to monitor the Mountain. Marx warned them about the boundary of the back range of the Mountain. The natives could sense that the population of werewolves had increased, and they would already have measures in place. If any werewolf strayed, they’d be killed.
Shea and Daniel oversaw everything as Marx kept his distance. Being the perpetual pessimist that he was, he placed no stock in any plan that didn't involve them packing their things and leaving as fast as possible. Putting as much distance between them, the Mountain, and whatever Sven was planning.
From what he could tell, most of the werewolves had never bee
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Enter the Shadows 6. Darkness Falls i
~By sunset the following day, none of them had come to their senses. Martha, with the help of Shea, set up for the ceremony at the front of the house. It was the only open space big enough for the massive circle they made, lined off with stones. Between each stone, Shea half-buried candlesticks right around. Marx had hoped at least half of them would have backed out and made a run for it. Who would have blamed them? Instead, he was stuck with a group of mostly untrained werewolves and the heavy task of being their Alpha. Uncomfortable was how it felt, standing in the middle of the circle. Everyone watched as Martha painted old rune symbols across his torso, placing a single mark on his forehead. While she did so, she mumbled a bunch of strange words, the flickering lights of the candles playing over her face. He had expected the ritual to be simple. No more than maybe five minutes long, tops. It tur
Enter the Shadows Darkness Falls ii
~Three more werewolves arrived during their time in Lochlan's room. Marx had changed none of them, but they made their pledge. Now he had fifty-nine marks; his pack was growing. It would have been one thing had it been Moon Magic, Earth Magic, or even an Alchemist Rite. They would have welcomed any other magic over Shadow Magic. Added to that Sven was looking for, and had already possibly found, the portal to Lansguard. Its sealing kept the surviving werewolves and vampires safe. It kept the humans safe. The Order of Shadows, according to Celeste, had been on a mad charge for power. To gain this power, they needed souls. The events of the cleansing she had described were harrowing. Opening the portal wouldn't just let Sven go through. It was a two-way street. The earth had billions of souls the Order
Enter the Shadows Darkness Falls iii
~They decided a convoy was to be sent out toPentorium. The situation was mushrooming into a much larger problem that involved every—literally—living soul. Dempsey became the ambassador,as he did business on a semi-regular basis with the five families. Werewolves and vampires weren't enemies, but they preferred to give each other a wide berth. Together they had been the destruction of their homeworld, and peacefully they lived apart in the new one. "What about the natives?" Shea asked. "Shouldn't we give them a heads up too?" "And would you like to go down there and tell them?" Marx gave her a side look, brow raised. "I guess they'll see the fires," Shea said
Enter the Shadows Darkness Falls iv
~Bryan held his shoulder, blood seeping through his fingers. Shea was busy cutting up bandages, mumbling to herself. She moved his hand away, cleaning the nasty gash with an herbal solution. He hissed. The wound wasn't healing. "How did you say this happened again?" "Big dude. Claws." It wasn't healing, but so far there was no sign of poisoning. Though it took a few hours for Lochlan to show signs. His wound, though, was done with a dagger. Poison-tipped claws? With Sven, anything was possible. The man was redefining everything they knew. Only one person would have been able to determine if the wound was poisoned or not, and she was non-responsive. As long as Nico remained on the verge of death, Shea was pretty sure Martha would remain as she was. Again, Martha
Enter the Shadows Darkness Falls v
~The night held its breath. After the initial alarm, there was nothing. The pack stood firm, their wolves moving among them. A movement had Daniel looking off to the left. A shadow shifted, then blended away. Another passed overhead; it was gone by the time they looked up. They were not alone, but no one could lock in on the intruder. One thing was for sure, though, they were not up against werewolves. From above a shadow came swooping down in front of Daniel, taking form only long enough to say, "Get down." And just like that, the surrounding shadows moved. Wispy streaks of black dashing back and forth. One shadow wrapped around Daniel's throat, picking him up off the ground. Several other werewolves faced off with their attackers, but like Daniel, they couldn't fight what they could not touch. He could fe
Enter the Shadows 7. Into the Woods i
~Dempsey was still missing. He was alive, but all they could find was blood. For two days from dusk till nightfall, they searched the Mountain. The working theory was that he had made it out, but no one could think of where he could have gone. The mystery of his disappearance continued. “As long as he’s alive,” Bryan said. “He’ll come back.” What Marx didn’t bother to point out was that just because he was alive, itdidn’t mean that he was well. It didn’t mean that Dempsey was free to return to them. Sven was never one inclined to take hostages, but in this situation, he might be. Dempsey could provide him with the information he needed about the gathering on the Mountain. Information he wouldn’t be able to get with a scout. If he succeeded in extracting it. Dempsey wouldn’t give up any information willingly. Then Sven would know Marx was an Alpha.
Enter the Shadows Into the Woods ii
~“Playing catch up sucks.” Shea was sitting around the dining table with the othersplaying with acrumpled piece of paper. Marx had called yet another meeting for them to hit their heads against a brick wall. He could tell Shea didn’t think they made a difference. Nothing new came out of them. All they did was point out how unprepared they had been to launch this imprompturebellion. In the attack’s aftermath, morale was down to an all-time low. “Sven has had years to plan all this,” Marx said. “All we can do now is to be a thorn in his side.” “Go afterthe portal,” Helick suggested. “Without it, he can’t go to Lansguard.” “He would have it heavily guarded,” Garrick pointed out. “And not just by werewo
Enter the Shadows Into the Woods iii
To say they were edgy about going into the woods was an understatement. When Marx called the gathering to announce the little expedition,he could see the dread on all their faces. The last time a group of them had gone out, two didn’t come back. They buried one, and the other was alive but missing. Their expressions saiddon't pick me.Some tried making themselves smaller by hiding behind taller members of the pack. Internally, Marx sighed. Their enthusiasmin the rebellion had certainly fallen along with their numbers. Pulling the short straws were Daniel, Helick, Bryan—who surprisingly volunteered—and two others who stepped forward like sacrificial lambs so that none of the others had to. Enrique and Yuri tried to square their shoulders, but Marx could still see their apprehension. He unders
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Enter the Shadows 27. Epilogue: After the Shadows
~ Marx stood looking at the carbonated lump that used to be four people he knew. Four people he loved. Ava, Lochlan, Zack, and Dempsey. Around him, the grass had grown again. The earth showed no signs of the battle that raged there. Mother earth had healed, but he had not. None of the others had. The world was safe, but a gap remained in their hearts that could never be filled. Around the base of the carbon memorial, laid fresh flowers. Every day for the past six months, Martha came with a new bouquet. Today was no different. He arrived as she did. “You came,” she had said to him when she saw him. In her hands, she had more than a dozen bulbs of tulips. Her summer dress fluttered in the breeze, strands of her now brown hair escaping her ponytail. The smile she gave him out shunned the sun, and Marx, for the life
Enter the Shadows The Last Stand iii
~Marx was leading the last assault; one meant to be a distraction. Ava moved her palm away from the wound on her side. Bleeding still felt strange to her. Martha was the only one with whom she could go into details about her plans. “Penny has the last rune. All she has to do is plant it on him. When she does, we have only a few minutes to get our part done,” she said to Martha. “What is our part?” “I’m going to use you like an amplifier. I know how it sounds and yes, it is dangerous. For me more than you.” “Then we can’t do it,” Martha said. “If you’re going to get hurt—” “I have a contingency for that as well.” “Ava—” She
Enter the Shadows The Last Stand ii
~Rea and Cale launched direct attacks on Kunz while Ava tried to unravel his protections. Each layer she pulled apart revealed another was more entrenched and more intricate than the one preceding it. She almost got another layer undone when she heard Cale shout— “Look out.” Ava had enough time to react, the death rune crackling through the air towards her. She split the force in half, saving herself by a hair. In the duel that ensued, Cale made the ultimate sacrifice. Rea tried to stop him as he ran straight for Kunz. Ava threw up a rune between Cale and the King; it was too late. Like dust, Cale disappeared. A self-satisfied smile lifted the side of Kunz’s lips. “Come now Avana. You cannot hope to defeat me. Even with all the knowledge at your disposal, I have spent years perfecting my craft.”
Enter the Shadows 26. The Last Stand i
~They came through using three portals. Cale and Rea helped Ava to create one large enough to transport all of their forces. On the other side, they emerged on the field of battle in Hedgewood. The ground was scarred black. Trees toppled over and uprooted. It looked like a nuclear weapon went off, turning black everything in its path. The familiarity of the scene had an itch running down Marx’s spine. This place was either where they would claim victory or where he would walk over the corpses of the people he loved. He brushed his somber thoughts aside. Victory was their only option. To Ava, who stood on his right, Marx said, “Your handy work?” “I may have caused a patch here and there.” She bobbed her head from side to side. It was such a human gesture Marx found he had an urge to smile. He allowed his amu
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back xii
~ Storming Hedgewood had to wait. Ava’s ‘problem’ required a second’s more thought. So close to the end, Marx was growing impatient. They needed to strike while they could and delays after delays were shifting the advantage square into the enemy’s hands. He folded his arms across his chest, keeping his face void of his emotions as he listened to Ava. “He has layers of protection wrapped around him like a shawl,” she was telling them as they stood inside the lobby of Anax Corp. Having the conversation on the outside felt too open. While they conversed, the last of the civilians and the injured were being ushered to the safety of the Mountain. Those left behind were there to fight. Marx found he was itching to fight. Ava continued. “We got through three of them before we had to retreat.” “Kunz spent years perfectin
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back xi
~The sky was a battlefield. Above Pentorium, spreading out for miles, the shadows fought amongst themselves. Those made from the spirits of dead vampires clashing against those created from werewolves. Marx had control of the latter. It was surreal watching it all unfold. Anabella came to stand by Marx as he stood gazing up at the result of his power. Power he would never have dreamed of having. Explaining to the others what he could do would have paled compared to the scene unfolding over their heads. “This is what Sven wanted from her,” Anabella said about Sven and his sister, Marx’s mate, Celeste. “And when he couldn’t take it, he planned to break the seal on the portal.” “I can’t imagine having that man’s thoughts inside my head,” Marx said. “I rather
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back x
~Vescovi’s head throbbed as if a drummer band was marching across his forehead. Making his way through the tunnel with his men, a blast came out of nowhere, knocking them down and rendering them unconscious. He woke up in a crumpled heap with his men, all in various stages of recovery. It took him several tries to get to his feet and stay there, the drumming in his head growing louder with each movement. Walking straight was a task, but it was urgent that they get to Xavier and the others. They were delayed enough as it was getting the remaining civilians under Anax Corp ready for transport to the Mountain. Pentorium was under an evacuation order. He paused when he saw that the panel leading out of the tunnels was open. It was plausible that Xavier had left it like that since it was their way in and out, but Vescovi could not ignore the prickle at
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back ix
~Martha moved to run to Nico as a shadow took possession of his body. Four steps in his direction, she stopped. Nico faced her direction, his eyes twin pools of swirling mist. The thing inside of him had his lips turn up in a smirk. With hot tears streaming unchecked down her cheeks, Martha clutched her fingers into tight fists. The words came from the pits of her stomach. The ground under her feet undulated, rippling with energy as she spoke them. Nico charged in her direction, his face twisted in rage. Martha held up her hand, palm open, continuing the chant, repeating it with fervor and a new understanding. Death fueled shadow magic. Hate. Anger. All the dark things that sullied the world. The spell was the most powerful she had ever attempted since Ava infused the revenant soul with hers. She had to release control to it. Allow the magic to ru
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back viii
~Martha couldn’t breathe, her anxiety tightening her chest. Through her link with Nico, she could feel his growing distress. It urged her to move faster as she sprinted through the hidden tunnels leading down into the subway. Back at Anax Corp, Vescovi was assembling a team, a process that was taking longer than was comfortable with her. Nico and the others needed immediate help. Communications, already spotty, had gone dead. Not a single response, only the constant frying of static. Unable to stand around doing nothing while the man she loved probably laid gutted and dying, Martha snuck off when no one was looking. None of the others knew what she was planning to do. If they did, they would have tried to stop her. She was the passive one. The one who chose not to fight. For a werewolf, her reliance on that part of herself never went past her prim
