Page 69 of Fated Wolf's Redemption

She draws the blade across her palm with a deliberate, steady motion. As the sharp edge slices her skin, crimson droplets begin to trickle and fall to the ground, leaving a small, dark trail.

The gate responds immediately, almost as if it has a life of its own. The ornate windglass set into the structure bursts with a blinding radiance, its light so intense it forces eyes to squint or turn away. The very earth beneath our feet trembles with a deep, rumbling vibration, while the air around us transforms, becoming frigid and sharp, biting at exposed skin like a winter gale.

And then she materializes. In the midst of the intricate glyph rings that encircle the space, standing between us and the ominous gate, is Lina.

This is no mere vision or fleeting memory; she stands before us, as real as the chill in the air—though not entirely whole. Her form wavers and shifts, trapped in a strange state of half-spirit, half-solid existence. Black runes etched into her skin in an eerie pattern adorn her body, crawling like living leeches. Her eyes burn with an inner fire, molten and intense, and her hair cascades down in wild, unruly tendrils, a chaotic mix of blood-red strands and the unruly gusts of a tempest.

Sophia freezes. Her hand tightens around the blade.

Lina turns. Her mouth curves.

“You came,” she says, and her voice is wind and venom. “The gate chose well.”

I step in front of Sophia, stormlight burning at my palms. “You don’t speak to her.”

Lina’s gaze slides over me. “Still trying to protect what’s already mine?”

“You didn’t mark her. I did.”

Lina smiles. “You marked a vessel. The gate marked an heir.”

Sophia moves beside me, shoulders squared. “You don’t get to decide who I am.”

Lina cocks her head. “Don’t I? You were always meant for more than being Windrider, child. More than stormborn. You were meant to be eternal.”

Sophia doesn’t answer.

Lina steps closer. She’s not walking. She’s gliding—just above the glyphs. “Your father feared this. That’s why he buried the blade. Why he tried to burn the maps.”

I flare the storm again, a warning. The light cracks across the stone.

Lina doesn’t blink.

“Feed it,” she whispers. “The gate hungers. It sings for your blood, your bond. Give it what it wants, and it will give you everything.”

Sophia’s voice is like steel. “You don’t know what I want.”

“I know what you were born to be.”

Sophia steps forward with determination. Her blood drips steadily onto the intricate glyphs etched into the ground, each drop sparking with energy. The light flares brilliantly, casting vibrant reflections across the clearing. Lina flickers in and out of view, her presence a wavering silhouette against the sudden illumination.

That’s the signal. I raise both hands, feeling the power surge through me. The storm detonates outward, a force of nature unleashed. Mist erupts from my skin, swirling around me in a tempest of silver and shadow, racing along the glyph lines like a living entity. The gate pulses with a deep, resonant thud—just once—before the anchor sigils ignite with an ethereal glow.

Now.

Kylie and Max become blurs of motion, their movements swift and precise. Glyph by glyph, sigil by sigil, they methodically set them ablaze. Stone crumbles beneath their touch, disintegrating into dust. Light shatters like glass, scattering into a thousand radiant fragments.

Lina screams—a piercing, high-pitched sound—her form disintegrating at the edges, unraveling like a tapestry caught in a violent wind.

Sophia strides into the heart of the ring. The windglass hums with a resonant frequency, vibrating as if alive. I move toward her, the stormlight still cascading from my body in a relentless torrent. Lina reaches out, desperation in her eyes, her mouth open in a silent plea.

I strike.

The wind surges forward, engulfing her. Not completely. Not forever, but enough to diminish her presence. She vanishes in a swirling burst of mist, her form dissipating into nothingness. And the gate—the gate begins to close, its ancient mechanisms grinding to a halt, sealing the way with finality.

Stone shatters, sending jagged shards flying as the mountain lets out a thunderous groan, echoing through the cavern like a beast in agony. I seize Sophia with urgency and yank her back with all my strength. “Now!” I bellow over the din. Max and Kylie stand poised at the tunnel entrance, weapons raised and eyes scanning the chaos. Oscar grips Sophia’s other arm, pulling with a fierce urgency that matches the situation.

The chamber erupts into a deafening roar as it splits apart, the sound like a thousand storms unleashed at once. Ancient glyphs etched into the walls ignite in a dazzling flare, blazing for a heartbeat before extinguishing into darkness. The final ring explodes in a searing flash of white-hot light so intense it burns our retinas, leaving spots dancing in our vision.

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