The prison void trembled under the weight of collapsing shadows. Fragments of the Hollow King's shattered body disintegrated into drifting ash-like darkness as thousands of freed spirits rose toward the cavern ceiling in streams of silver light.
At the center of the devastation, Nyra lay motionless.
Her silver aura flickered faintly — barely visible — like the last glow of a dying star.
The Blood Moon relic beneath her ribs pulsed weakly… slowing… fading.
A thunderous roar split the void.
Kael burst through the collapsing prison corridor, golden Alpha energy blazing around him like wildfire. He skidded to a halt beside Nyra, dropping instantly to his knees.
"Nyra!"
He lifted her carefully into his arms. Her skin felt cold. Too still.
Panic clawed through his chest as he pressed his forehead against hers, desperately searching the bond between them.
He felt her.
Faint… fragile… slipping through his grasp like sand between claws.
"You promised you'd fight to come back," he whispered hoarsely.
The prison ground shook violently as a concentrated mass of shadow slammed into the void floor behind them. Kael turned sharply as the Hollow King's condensed core began forming.
No longer massive… but far more focused.
A towering wolf-shaped figure emerged, forged from dense black crystal and fused soul remnants. Crimson fractures glowed across its skeletal body, pulsing with lethal intensity. Its hollow eyes burned brighter than before — sharper, more aware, more enraged.
You broke my prison, the Hollow King snarled.
But you cannot break me.
Kael's golden eyes ignited with primal fury as he gently lowered Nyra to the ground behind him, shielding her body with his own.
"You will not touch her again," he growled.
The Hollow King laughed — a jagged, broken sound.
You are Alpha… but you are not chosen by the Blood Moon. You cannot destroy what she was born to face.
Kael's claws extended as golden light flared violently along his arms.
"I don't need to be chosen by the moon," he snarled. "I was chosen by her."
He lunged.
Their collision shattered the prison floor. Kael slammed into the Hollow King's condensed form with explosive force, golden energy clashing against razor-edged shadow crystal. The Hollow King countered with terrifying speed, its claws carving deep wounds across Kael's side.
Kael barely flinched, driving forward with savage determination. Each strike he delivered carried not just Alpha power… but raw desperation.
"You will fall!" he roared, slamming the creature into a pillar of bone-like stone.
The Hollow King's fractured body reshaped instantly, shadow spikes erupting from its back and driving Kael backward. The spikes tore through his shoulder, forcing a guttural snarl from his throat.
You fight with emotion, the Hollow King hissed. Emotion weakens leaders.
Kael wiped blood from his mouth, golden aura blazing brighter.
"Emotion is why leaders fight," he said, rising again despite his injuries.
Behind them, Nyra's body remained still.
But faint silver motes began drifting toward her from the freed ancestral spirits hovering above the void. One by one, glowing wolves descended, surrounding her in a silent, reverent circle.
The spirits pressed their muzzles gently against her form, releasing fragments of their liberated energy. Silver light seeped into Nyra's chest, feeding the fading Blood Moon relic.
Her fingers twitched.
Kael staggered as the Hollow King slammed him into the ground again. Shadow claws pinned his shoulders, driving him into the fractured stone.
"You cannot win," the Hollow King said coldly. "She sacrificed herself. Her power is gone."
Kael snarled, struggling against the crushing force.
"You don't know her," he growled through clenched teeth.
Golden energy surged violently around him as he forced one arm free, slamming his fist into the Hollow King's jaw. The impact cracked pieces of shadow crystal from the creature's face.
Behind them, a pulse of brilliant silver light erupted.
The Hollow King froze.
Kael turned sharply.
Nyra hovered inches above the ground, her body surrounded by swirling streams of silver and crimson energy. The Blood Moon relic burned brightly beneath her ribs, now glowing with layered ancestral markings.
Her eyes opened slowly.
No longer just silver.
They shimmered with molten moonlight threaded with ancient runes.
The spirits circled her in rising spirals of glowing energy before dissolving into her aura completely.
Nyra inhaled sharply as power surged through her veins — different… deeper… older.
"I carry Shadowfang's past," she whispered, her voice echoing with layered ancestral resonance.
She descended gently to the ground, stepping forward with renewed strength. Moonlight spread across the prison void, pushing back the remaining shadows.
"And I carry its future."
The Hollow King recoiled slightly, its fractured body trembling with unstable energy.
You should have faded…
Nyra's aura flared into a radiant Blood Moon halo behind her.
"I was never meant to fade," she replied calmly. "I was meant to rise."
Kael staggered to his feet beside her, his golden aura merging subtly with her silver radiance. Their bond pulsed visibly between them — moonlight and sunlight entwined.
Nyra extended her hand, severance runes blazing across her palm as ancestral voices whispered through her power.
"This ends now," she said.
The Hollow King roared, charging toward them in a final, catastrophic assault.
Nyra and Kael moved together.
Moonlight and Alpha fire collided with condensed shadow in a blinding explosion that tore through the prison void, shaking the ancient cavern to its core.
The final battle for Shadowfang's legacy had begun.