Chapter 25: The Summoning Scar
The return to Black Ash Vale was slow, but triumphant. Every step felt heavier—heavier with power, responsibility, and a bond unlike anything the Crimson Howl had ever known.
The Chaos Bloodline was stirring.
But even as they walked back to their den, Kael's instincts screamed. Something was off. A pull—subtle and dark—gnawed at the edge of his thoughts like a memory he didn't own.
And that night, it came to him in a dream.
---
A shattered moon. A cliff of spiraling symbols. A voice like stone whispering: "Beneath the Scar, it waits..."
Kael jolted awake, breath ragged, shirt soaked.
The system buzzed in his mind, words glowing behind his eyelids:
> System Alert:
Hidden World Signature Detected
Location: Scar of the First Howl
Potential Threat Level: High
Optional Mission: Investigate the Scar's Awakening
Reward: ??? (System Blindspot)
Failure: Territory Breach Risk Increases
Kael clenched his fist.
A system blindspot?
That was rare—and terrifying.
---
At the Ritual Grounds
Flam and Tamir knelt beside the Oathstone, watching Kael in silence.
"There's something stirring at the edge of the Vale," Kael said. "Something ancient. I need to see it myself."
Flam frowned. "The Scar hasn't opened in a hundred years. You think it's calling now?"
Kael nodded. "I saw it in a dream. And I… felt it."
And the system confirmed it, he added silently.
Tamir's eyes narrowed. "We'll go with you."
Kael glanced at the Oathstone, feeling the bloodline pulsing through its molten core.
"If we go, we go tonight."
---
That night...
The team was small: Kael, Flam, Tamir, Milla, and Harn.
They reached the Scar in silence. It wasn't a cliff—it was a wound. Spiral carvings twisted like roots carved by claws, glowing faintly under the moonlight.
Kael stepped forward.
The moment his foot touched the sigils, they lit with burning red light.
Then the stone split apart, opening not like a landslide—but like a door.
Revealing a winding staircase shrouded in crimson mist.
Tamir's hand went to his blade. "Alpha… what is this?"
Kael didn't answer.
He couldn't.
He descended.
The deeper they went, the more warped the world became. Color faded. Sound slowed. The torches flickered with unnatural wind. And then… the stairway ended.
They entered a cavern unlike anything above.
Twisted altars. Bones etched with fire. Symbols in blood and ash.
And in the center—
A man.
Tall. White hair falling down his back. A half-wolf mask covering one eye. The sigil on his chest belonged to a dead pack: Ashen Howl.
He smiled.
"You've finally heard the whisper, haven't you… little Alpha?"
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
The man stepped forward. His skin cracked—fire and ash beneath.
> System Pulse in Kael's Mind:
Warning: Foreign Bloodline Detected
Type: Cursed Variant — Ashen Howl Fragment
Danger Level: Unknown — Hostile Intent Confirmed
New Mission: Survive the Ashborn Trial
Time Limit: 10 minutes
Kael stiffened but didn't let it show. His hand rested calmly on his side.
"You came all this way just to die?" the stranger asked.
Kael's golden eyes flared. "No. I came to see who thought they could challenge a reborn pack."
Then the stranger shifted mid-lunge—skin bursting, bones reforming—becoming a burning monster with claws like molten blades.
Flam roared. Tamir's daggers flashed.
Kael stood his ground.
If this is the trial the system warned me about…
Then it ends in fire.