Page 75 of Wolf Queen Ruin
As I stepped toward my chosen path, the apparitions let out inhuman howls of frustration, the illusion breaking to reveal their true nature as spectral wolves with glowing blue eyes.They lunged toward me.
I burst through the center doorway into another descending corridor and slammed the door behind me.The howls faded, replaced by the oppressive silence of ancient stone.
The passage continued downward, the blue lighting growing dimmer as I progressed.I found myself relying more on my headlamp, its beam creating sharp contrasts of light and shadow that made the carvings on the walls seem to move in my peripheral vision.
After what felt like an eternity of controlled descent, the corridor leveled out and opened into another chamber, this one circular with a domed ceiling from which thousands of crystal formations hung like frozen raindrops.In the center stood a raised dais supporting a shallow basin filled with clear liquid that reflected my headlamp with unnatural brightness.
No obvious exits presented themselves, suggesting this chamber was either a dead end or contained some mechanism to reveal the next stage of my trials.I approached the basin, examining it without touching the liquid.The bowl itself was carved from the same black stone as the Wolf Queen’s sarcophagus, its inner surface etched with spiral patterns similar to those we’d already encountered.
Text encircled the basin’s rim—more of the ancient shifter script, but different from the historical accounts I’d seen earlier.These words seemed more…personal.
“To see the path forward, one must first truly see oneself,“ I translated aloud, the words carrying in the quiet chamber.
A test of self-knowledge, then.I’d encountered similar concepts in other tombs, though they were usually implemented through riddles or puzzles.
The liquid in the basin remained still despite my proximity, its surface smooth.I knew the next step was obvious—look into the water—but caution held me back.In many traditions, reflecting pools served as conduits for spirits or gateways to other realms.There was no telling what I might encounter if I engaged with this one.
But avoidance wasn’t an option.The Wolf Queen’s trial required me to finish, and this chamber offered no alternative path.
Taking a steadying breath, I leaned forward and gazed into the basin.
Initially, I saw only my own reflection—tired eyes, dirt- and blood-smudged face with a bandage over one eyebrow, the determined line of my mouth.Then the image began to change, rippling outward from the center like disturbed water, though the liquid itself remained motionless.
My reflection shifted, my features rearranging into a familiar yet altered face—still me, but with the sharper angles and distinctive markings of my wolf form.This was how I would appear if I could still shift, my human and wolf aspects in perfect balance.
The surface of the basin darkened, then it filled with a new image—the Wolf Queen herself, not as the spectral guardian we’d encountered, but as she must have appeared in life.Beautiful and terrible in her power, she gazed up at me with eyes that held ancient wisdom and immeasurable sorrow.
You fight what you are, wolf-daughter, her voice whispered into my mind.The broken bond with your pack is not your true limitation.It is your refusal to embrace the spaces between—between human and wolf, between past and future, between isolation and connection.
“I don’t understand,” I admitted.
The Shadow Fang was created to transform essence, to cross boundaries others believed impermeable.Those who seek it must understand transformation in themselves.Her image rippled, her features taking on aspects that reminded me of my own.You cannot remain caught between worlds forever.
The liquid in the basin began to glow with the same blue phosphorescence that illuminated the crypt, growing brighter until I had to shield my eyes.When I looked again, the basin had transformed into a swirling portal of light, its surface no longer reflective but permeable, beckoning.
Without conscious decision, I understood what was required—not merely to look, but to immerse.To literally and figuratively submerge myself in the Queen’s wisdom.
I released a shaky breath.There was no guarantee I would emerge from whatever lay beyond that portal, no assurance that this wasn’t simply an elaborate trap designed to claim another victim for the Queen’s eternal court.
Yet something deeper than reason told me this was the true path forward, not just to the Shadow Fang, but to understanding what might save Aria, Jade, and perhaps even myself.
Drawing a deep breath, I plunged my hands into the glowing liquid.Instead of the wetness I expected, it felt like touching warm sand—granular but yielding, flowing around my fingers.The sensation felt strangely familiar, reminiscent of the tingling warmth that once accompanied my transformations.
The glow traveled up my arms, enveloping me in gentle blue light that pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat.A profound calm settled over me, replacing fear with certainty as I lowered my face toward the portal.
I closed my eyes and submerged completely, feeling the warm granular flow envelop my entire body.For a moment, gravity seemed to release its hold, leaving me suspended in weightless blue limbo.Then came the sensation of falling, of being pulled downward at increasing speed through layers of existence I couldn’t comprehend.
When the movement ceased, I opened my eyes to find myself in a vast moonlit forest unlike any I’d known in the waking world.Ancient trees towered overhead, their silver-barked trunks wider than buildings, their canopy opening to reveal a night sky filled with impossibly bright stars and a moon larger than seemed natural.
That’s when I felt it—the terrifying absence of solid ground just inches behind my heels.My stomach dropped as I realized I stood at the very edge of a towering cliff, the forest floor seemingly miles below.One wrong step backward and I’d be nothing but a Luna-shaped splatter on the rocks.
Instinctively, I took a step forward.Standing in front of me in the clearing, her massive silver form radiating power, was a wolf the size of a small house—the Wolf Queen in her wolf form, her blue eyes regarding me with intelligent assessment.
Welcome to the heart of my power, Luna Rookwood.Her voice resonated in the still air.Now we begin your true trial.
She lunged forward with shocking speed.Her massive paws slammed against my chest, and suddenly I was falling.
Tumbling backward over the cliff.
