Chapter 3 Three

Teeth in the Dark

The Hollowborn didn't move like wolves, they moved like broken things pretending to be alive, jagged and twisting, too fast in the wrong ways. Their bodies shimmered with mist that clung to their skin like rot, eyes glowing green through the veil. Lira met the first one head-on, her silver form crashing into its chest with a snarl that split the night open.

They tumbled across the forest floor, claws met flesh and bone splintered beneath her bite.

The Hollowborn screeched a high alien sound that made her ears flatten, this one bled dark and sluggish ichor instead of red. It stank of corruption, Lira drove her claws deeper into its throat until it stopped twitching.

Another one came leaping from the trees above,

She ducked, spun, and flung it into a trunk with the force of a landslide. It shattered against bark like a puppet with cut strings, two more charged, She stood her ground.

Then, just as she began to tire, others arrived.

Kade landed beside her in wolf form, towering dark-furred, his eyes glowing with fury, he tore through a Hollowborn with a single swipe. Behind him came three more warriors Rheya, Orin, and the elder Shav. They formed a line at Lira's back.

"You took your time," she growled,

"Had to put on my war face," Kade snarled, baring his bloodstained teeth.

More Hollowborn emerged from the shadows, they didn't speak nor howl. They just came as a tide of nightmares cloaked in silence.

The circle's wolves met them with fury.

Steel clanged in the distance where the outer warriors fought, cries echoed through the trees and the forest became a blur of blood, flame, and shifting bodies.

Lira tore her way through a Hollowborn's ribcage, only to be slammed to the ground by another. It pinned her with clawed hands, its mouth opening unnaturally wide and its thick black tongue lashed at her face.

She screamed and released the last of her restraint. Her form twisted half-wolf, half-human, and her eyes glowing silver.

She grabbed the creature's skull with both clawed hands and ripped.

It head came free, as she staggered to her feet, dripping with black blood.

The hybrid shape took a toll, her breathing was ragged and her muscles ached. But the Hollowborn hesitated now, and they felt the change. The oath that lived inside her and burned in her blood, made them shrink back.

She used the moment smartly,

"Drive them east!" she shouted to the others, "Push them toward the ridge, They can't outflank us if we control the high ground!"

Kade growled in approval as Rheya surged forward, rallying others to the command. The wolves began shifting their line.

Lira shifted back to her full wolf form and followed, lunging through the chaos toward the next threat.

They reached the ridgeline by dawn, Six Hollowborn lay dead behind them. Already four warriors had fallen and a dozen more were wounded.

Lira paced along the edge of the cliff, with blood drying on her fur as she turned back to human, her form exhausted but defiant. The air stank of smoke and rot.

"They've never come this deep," Orin said, pressing a cloth to his arm.

"They didn't just attack," Rheya added, "They infiltrated with no cries nor challenge. That's not war, but extermination."

Kade looked down the slope, his face hard, "They were testing us."

"No,"

"They were testing me," Lira said.

Calling everyone attention towards her,

"I completed the rite she said and it was as if the word pierce through their hearts. They came to see if I was ready to wear the blood oath," She clenched her fists, and of course "I was."

Maelen emerged from the trees, flanked by two scouts, She looked tired, older than usual. "The wards failed without warning, as three of them walked right through."

"That's not possible," Rheya snapped.

"Unless someone opened them from inside," Maelen replied.

The silence fell heavy within them.

"Saboteur," Kade muttered, Lira's gaze swept the survivors, a dozen pairs of eyes, all loyal. But someone had let monsters through their walls. And that someone was still breathing.

Later, the fallen were brought to the sacred clearing, the pyres were lit and songs were sung. Names etched in stone, as the scent of burning fur drifted upward into the dawn sky, mournful and holy.

Lira stood at the center with a bare-chested blade in hand, She sliced her palm and let the blood drip onto the flames.

"Your sacrifice is etched in flame, and your names echo with the howls of our ancestors. We will not rest while your killers walk free."

The fire hissed in answer.

As the others bowed their heads, Lira locked eyes with Maelen across the flames.

The Seer's look said it all, You've stepped into the fire now and there's no turning back.

That evening, Lira returned to the training circle. Not to fight nor to spar but to think.

She sat with her legs crossed in the dirt, she watched the wind move the leaves as her body ached and her mind reeled. The Rite was complete. The Hollowborn had struck but a traitor walked among them.

She was meant to lead, but what did that even mean?

"A contemplating philosophy?" Kade's voice broke the silence.

She didn't look up, " she was still wondering how many more will die before I get it right."

He sat beside her, and whispered "We're wolves, we bleed, we burn and we rise again."

She sighed, "You're terrible at comfort."

"I'm not trying to comfort you, I'm reminding you that being chosen doesn't mean being perfect."

She glanced sideways, "Is that wisdom or sarcasm?"

"Both."

They sat in silence for a moment, as the last of the sun dipped behind the trees.

"Someone opened the wards," she said.

"Yeah,"

"We have to find them."

Kade's eyes darkened, "And when we do."

Lira's voice dropped to a growl, "we make an example."

The next morning, the investigation began.

Maelen summoned the Circle's Lorekeeper, a wiry man named Halvik, who could read residual magic from blood and bone. He walked the ward lines, muttering glyphs and tracing runes in the dirt. After hours of grim silence, he returned to the enclave's center.

"It wasn't a full breach," he said. "The glyphs were weakened from inside, someone redirected their tether. That was a small alteration but just enough."

"Who had access?" Lira asked,

"Only the glyphkeepers and their records show... one missing."

"Who?" Kade barked,

Halvik unrolled a scroll, "a young and talented Corin who was raised here disappeared the day before the attack. No one has seen him since."

Rheya stepped forward, "I trained with Corin he wasn't Hollowborn. He couldn't have been."

Lira's jaw tightened, "He didn't need to be one of them but can Just be useful."

She turned to the scouting parties and said "Find him, Dead or alive."

Days passed,

Scouts combed the wilds blood trails led to a collapsed cavern northeast of the Whispering Hollow. Inside they found scorch marks, a broken sigil, and Corin's scent vanished at the edge of a cliff.

There was no body nor sign but something else was found.

A Hollowborn sigil etched into the stone wall.

Maelen studied it by torchlight and said "This isn't just allegiance this is worship."

"They're recruiting now?" Orin asked,

"Or corrupting," Maelen whispered.

Lira stared at the rune, a curved fang with a broken moon and a snake swallowing its tail.

"It's not just a war," she said, "It's a cult."

That night, as the camp tried to rest, Lira walked alone beyond the border trees, She needed space and air.

The woods were quiet as if she is wandering in a cemetery, She moved like a ghost, listening to her heartbeat and the rhythm of the leaves.

Then something changed,

The wind stopped and the forest held its breath as a voice echoed from the shadows.

"Moonblood."

She froze,

A figure stepped forward, draped in mist. It was humanoid, but barely. Its eyes burned with sickly green light. Hollowborn, but not like the others. This one wore robes, It spoke.

"You reek of oath fire," it hissed, "You burned our kin."

"You broke the Pact," Lira growled "You deserve worse."

The creature tilted its head, "We are older than oaths, older than blood and we are growing."

Lira shifted, fangs bared "You'll fall all the same."

It didn't flinch, "Your name is known to us, Lira of the circle the daughter of fire. Your death has already been promised."

"You'll have to try harder than promises Lira murmured."

"Next moon," the creature said, and began to vanish in shadow. " when the Hollow gate opens, your forest will bleed."

Lira leapt forward but the mist scattered leaving nothing but the stench of decay.

She stood alone in the dark, and her heart was pounding. War had come to her doorstep and now it was personal.