Chapter 428 The Beast

Chapter 428 The Beast
Elara’s fingers dug into his tunic. “Please remain safe,” she begged, voice cracking. “Come back to me. Promise me you will not be reckless. I just got here with you… I cannot lose you now.”

Ryker rested his forehead against hers. “I promise I will return, rosebud. Stay with your mother and sister. Keep them safe inside these walls.” He kissed her once more, hard and desperate, then pulled away. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Elara whispered, tears glistening as he rushed out.

Moments later, Ryker rejoined the group, bow slung across his back. Audrey was already mounted on Starlight, her white dress and cloak whipping in the pre-dawn wind, exactly as she had seen in her dreams. Forty elite knights formed up behind them.

They rode out like the wind itself.

The first day blurred into exhaustion. The speed runes the Oracle had inscribed glowed on the horses’ legs, pushing them to unnatural speeds. Villages passed in flashes, some already damaged by the wolf’s trail. By nightfall, they reached the first relay station and switched to fresh horses without stopping for more than a few minutes.

Audrey clutched her crescent moon necklace constantly. It grew hotter with every league they covered, as if Darius’s presence called to her through the bond.

On the second day, they witnessed true horror. A farming settlement lay in ruins, homes reduced to splinters, bodies scattered. The massive claw prints in the earth made the knights murmur prayers. The wolf was moving faster than anyone thought possible.

“We’re gaining,” Ryker growled as they watered the horses briefly. “But not fast enough.”

The Oracle looked drained. “The runes are weakening. We have hours left at this pace.”

Audrey lifted her chin. “Then we do not stop. Anyone who cannot continue may turn back. I am riding on.”

Not one knight faltered.

They pushed through the second night. Audrey dozed fitfully in the saddle, tied loosely so she wouldn’t fall. Ryker stayed close, steadying her when needed. The Oracle chanted without pause, feeding the last of her strength into the group.

By the morning of the third day, the Highlands rose before them, jagged peaks wrapped in blood-red mist. They had done the impossible. A three-day journey compressed into barely more than two. A deafening roar shook the mountains as they crested the final ridge.

There he was.

The dark wolf was enormous, almost as tall as the surrounding mountain peaks. His black fur rippled like living shadow, streaked with veins of glowing crimson. Molten gold eyes burned with mindless rage. Massive fangs dripped darkness, and his claws gouged deep trenches into the ancient stone circle of the sacred grounds. This was no ordinary beast. This was Phoenix fully consumed, a towering nightmare that made the earth tremble with every step.

Audrey’s heart shattered. That monster was Darius. Her husband. The father of her children. Tears stung her eyes even as determination hardened in her chest.

Ryker acted first. He nocked an arrow, drew his bow, and fired. The shaft flew true, striking the wolf’s shoulder. The knights charged behind him, swords raised and spears leveled, shouting battle cries that echoed off the mountains.

The arrows did nothing. They bounced harmlessly off the wolf’s hide or disintegrated into ash before impact. The beast barely noticed them.

Audrey’s throat tightened with pain. “Darius…” she whispered.

The Oracle gripped her arm. “That is not your husband anymore, Your Majesty. That is the curse of the fates given form. You must dispel it. Reach the goddess’s power within you. Only you can end this.”

The dark wolf roared again, the sound so powerful it nearly knocked riders from their saddles.

“Ryker!” the Oracle shouted. “Use your powers! Distract him!”

Ryker discarded his bow with a curse and urged his horse forward. He channeled his fire, hurling blazing balls of flame at the colossal beast. One struck its flank, another its chest. The wolf snarled and turned its massive head toward him.

It swiped with a paw the size of a wagon. Ryker barely dodged, rolling off his horse as the ground exploded where he had stood. The wolf roared fire, a stream of dark crimson flames that engulfed the area. Ryker rolled desperately, slapping at the flames that caught on his cloak and tunic, smoke rising from his gloves.

“Bind him!” the Oracle commanded the remaining knights.

The knights rushed forward with thick enchanted ropes reinforced with silver and runes. They attempted to loop them around the wolf’s legs and neck. For a moment, it seemed they might succeed.

Then the beast stomped.

The ground cracked violently beneath the knights. The earth caved in with a deafening rumble, swallowing nearly half the men in a yawning chasm. Their wails echoed as they fell into darkness, the sound cutting off abruptly.
Audrey cried out in horror. Ryker scrambled to his feet, coughing from the smoke, his clothes singed.

The wolf turned its burning gaze directly toward Audrey. Recognition or something darker, flickered in those gold eyes. It took one thunderous step toward her, the ground shaking so violently she nearly lost her balance.

“Now, Your Majesty!” the Oracle urged, voice strained. “The goddess’s power, use it before he reaches you!”

Audrey slid from her horse, white dress billowing around her legs, cloak snapping in the wind. Her crescent moon necklace burned like a brand against her chest. Power surged through her veins, warm, ancient, and fierce. The goddess’s gift.

The wolf lunged.