32
The corruption reached the compound walls like a slow-moving plague, turning fertile ground into ashen wasteland with each step the Void Seekers took. I watched from the temple's highest window as the wave of blight crept closer, withering ancient trees and poisoning streams that had run clear for centuries.
Through the network, I felt each alliance member's growing fear as the unnatural darkness approached their positions. Warriors who had faced death in conventional battle trembled before enemies that could simply unmake the very essence of life itself.
"They're not attacking," Agatha observed from beside me, her voice tight with confusion. "They're just... advancing. Slowly. Why?"
I extended my supernatural senses toward the approaching force and immediately understood. "They're savoring it. The fear, the anticipation, the gradual weakening of our network bonds as wolves lose hope."
The Void Seekers fed on more than just magical abilities they consumed emotion, life force, the very will to resist. Every moment of terror they inspired made their eventual victory more complete.
"Then we don't give them what they want," Darius said firmly, entering the chamber with his war council close behind. "Network-wide communication. Remind every alliance member why we're fighting, what we're protecting."
I nodded and opened the connections completely, letting silver light flow through bonds that spanned hundreds of miles. Instead of fear, I pushed determination through the network. Instead of despair, I shared the vision that had brought us all together wolves united not by conquest but by choice.
The response was immediate. Across the region, alliance members straightened their shoulders and gripped their weapons with renewed purpose. The corruption was terrible, but it was not absolute.
"There," Moira pointed toward the line of advancing darkness. "Do you see them clearly now?"
Through the blight, shapes were becoming visible figures that had once been wolves, but transformed into something that made my skin crawl. Their forms shifted constantly, as though they couldn't maintain stable physical shapes. Dark energy leaked from their bodies like infected wounds, pooling in their footsteps and spreading the corruption further.
"How many?" Marcus asked, though his voice suggested he didn't really want to know.
"Two hundred and thirty-seven," I said, counting through enhanced senses that could distinguish individual signatures despite the overwhelming corruption. "But they're not all equal. Most are basic consumption units, but there are maybe twenty who radiate much stronger energy."
"The leaders Maris mentioned?"
"Or the most successful collectors. Void Seekers who have absorbed enough power to become something approaching their own supernatural bloodline."
The implications were staggering. We weren't just facing enhanced enemies we were facing beings who had spent centuries accumulating abilities from extinct supernatural bloodlines, turning themselves into composite weapons of unimaginable power.
"Range to target?" Darius asked.
"One hour," Elena replied from her position at a communication crystal that let her coordinate with scouts throughout the region. "But Alpha... they've stopped advancing."
I looked toward the corruption line and confirmed her observation. The Void Seekers had halted perhaps a mile from our outer defenses, their forms visible through the blight but motionless.
"Why would they stop?" Agatha wondered.
Before anyone could answer, a voice echoed across the distance not natural sound, but something that bypassed normal hearing and spoke directly to every supernatural sense in range.
"SELENE OF THE ECLIPSE COVENANT." The words carried harmonics that made ancient stone tremble. "WE HAVE COME TO RECLAIM WHAT WAS STOLEN."
"Stolen?" I called back, my own voice enhanced by network power. "I stole nothing. I awakened abilities that were always mine by blood."
"BLOOD THAT WAS MEANT TO BE CONSUMED LONG AGO. THE ECLIPSE COVENANT ESCAPED JUSTICE ONCE. THEY WILL NOT ESCAPE AGAIN."
The exchange continued, each word revealing more about our enemies' true nature. They weren't just parasites they were the instruments of some ancient judgment, carrying out a vendetta that predated recorded history.
"What did the original Covenant do?" Darius asked Moira quietly. "Why do the Void Seekers believe they have a right to consume our abilities?"
"I don't know," the healer admitted. "The records are incomplete, focused on abilities rather than history. But if the Void Seekers have been hunting Eclipse Covenant descendants for centuries..."
"Then there's a reason beyond simple hunger," I finished. "Something the original bloodline did that these beings see as unforgivable."
"SURRENDER YOURSELF," the voice continued, "AND YOUR ALLIES WILL BE SPARED THE SLOW DEATH. REFUSE, AND WE WILL DRAIN EVERY DROP OF POWER FROM EVERY ENHANCED WOLF IN YOUR ALLIANCE."
Through the network, I felt hundreds of wolves waiting for my response. Some were terrified, others angry, but all of them were looking to me for leadership in a crisis none of them had trained for.
"Counter-offer," I called across the corrupted ground. "Face me in single combat. If you defeat me, the alliance dissolves and you can claim whatever you believe you're owed. If I win, you withdraw and leave these territories in peace."
The laughter that answered was like breaking glass, sharp and artificial. "SINGLE COMBAT? CHILD, YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU FACE. WE ARE NOT INDIVIDUALS. WE ARE UNITY PERFECTED, CONSCIOUSNESS WITHOUT THE WEAKNESS OF SEPARATE EXISTENCE."
"Then you should have no trouble defeating one small wolf with borrowed power," I shot back.
The corruption line pulsed, darkness writhing as though the Void Seekers were conferring among themselves. When they spoke again, the voice carried notes of anticipation.
"VERY WELL. WE WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FUTILITY OF RESISTANCE. BUT WHEN YOU FALL, YOUR ALLIANCE WILL WATCH AS WE CONSUME EVERY CONNECTION YOU HAVE BUILT."
A figure detached itself from the main group larger than the others, its form more stable though no less horrifying. Dark energy swirled around it like a living shroud, and where its feet touched the ground, the corruption spread faster and deeper.
"A champion," Alpha Theron breathed. "They're actually agreeing to single combat."
"Because they know something we don't," I replied grimly. "This isn't about honor or tradition. They're confident they can drain my abilities and use the connection to consume the entire network."
I began walking toward the temple doors, my armor humming with contained power. Behind me, I could feel the alliance bonds strengthening as hundreds of wolves prepared to share their strength with me.
"Selene, wait." Darius caught my arm as I reached the threshold. "You don't have to do this alone. We could attack together, use coordinated force "
"And give them multiple targets to drain simultaneously?" I shook my head. "This is the only way. Either I find a method to counter their consumption abilities, or I sever my own connections before the corruption can spread."
"And if severing the connection kills you?"
I met his gray eyes, seeing emotions there he hadn't quite voiced. "Then at least the alliance survives to find another way."
He wanted to argue I could see it in every line of his body but duty won out over personal desire. Just as it always did with him.
"The network will support you," he said instead. "Every wolf in the alliance is prepared to share their strength."
"I know. And that's exactly what will make this possible."
I stepped out of the temple into air that tasted of death and corrupted magic, walking toward a confrontation that would determine the fate of everyone I had come to care about.
Behind me, silver light blazed from the temple as the entire alliance network focused its power through our connections. Ahead, darkness writhed with anticipation of consumption.
Between us lay a battlefield where the very nature of supernatural power would be decided.