Chapter 49 Chapter 49
Leonidas’s POV
The throne pulsed once, hard enough to crack the earth beneath us.
The sound wasn’t physical.
It was inside us, inside the blood, inside instinct am felt ancient–absolute.
'Only one Queen may sit'.
The words echoed like law not just spoken but declared.
And every wolf in that clearing felt it.
I saw it in them.
Malrik's pack dropped lower, their heads bowed deeper, while their bodies tremble beneath the pressure.
Even Kael's wolf instincts fought hard to submit.
The dragon remained bowed.
Ancient power recognizing ancient law.
Only Caius, Zander, and I stayed standing, and Sable barely trying because the throne was pulling her.
Not physically though.
More like something deeper; like her soul recognized it, like it remembered her.
The Fallen stepped toward it too.
Silver–black energy spiraling around her like smoke. For the first time since she appeared I saw hunger from her.
Real hunger.
Not for power.
But hunger for belonging, for return.
For something she believed was stolen. And that made her even more dangerous.
Because desperate enemies are reckless.
While ancient desperate enemies?
They were deadly.
"Sable."
I stepped in front of her.
Her silver eyes met mine but they still weren’t fully hers.
Not yet because the memories still moved behind them.
Still swallowing pieces of her bit by bit.
"You have to fight it."
Her voice came out distant.
"It’s calling me."
"I know."
"Leonidas...."
Her hand trembled in mine.
"I remember things."
My chest tightened.
"I don’t care."
Her brows pulled together.
"What?"
"I don’t care who you were."
I stepped closer.
"Only who you are."
For a second—just a second, the silver in her eyes softened.
Her.
That was her.
I could feel it she was still there.
Still fighting.
The Fallen laughed softly.
Mocking.
"How sweet."
Her gaze sharpened.
"And useless."
She lifted her hand and the throne responded as silver–black light shot outward.
I shoved Sable back just as the blast struck. Pain ripped through my side as I hit the ground hard.
My ribs screamed. But I was up again instantly.
The Fallen frowned.
"Still protecting her."
My wolf growled violently.
Always.
Caius stepped forward, dark energy curling around his hands.
"You touch her again, and I’ll bury you."
The Fallen smiled.
"Shadow blood."
Her eyes gleamed.
"You’ve grown."
Caius’s jaw tightened.
"You know my father."
The Fallen’s expression darkened.
"I knew the monster who wore his face."
That froze him.
A flicker.
It was small but I saw it.
Pain.
History.
Complicated.
Dangerous.
The throne pulsed again.
Stronger this time pulling her towards it harder than before.
Sable cried out, dropping to one knee. The pull on her had doubled.
The ground beneath her cracked with silver veins.
'Leonidas. Run.'
My wolf was screaming inside me not from fear but from instinct.
Because this wasn’t a battlefield anymore.
This was judgment.
Ancient judgment.
And wolves weren’t made to interfere with it.
Which was too bad because I was already involved without even trying.
I moved toward her again and Malrik grabbed my arm hard.
"Stop."
I turned sharply.
"What?"
His face was grim.
"If you interrupt the throne directly—"
"I don’t care."
"You should."
His grip tightened on me.
"It kills whatever resists it."
My wolf snarled.
"Then I’ll resist."
Malrik stared at me.
And for the first time—there was respect there on his face.
Dangerous respect.
"You really would die for her",he said though it was more like a question.
"Yes."
Without hesitation, with no doubt I answered back.
He released me, then stepped beside me.
"Then don’t die stupidly."
That surprised me.
Kael staggered upright.
"Well.... that’s new."
Zander brushed dirt from his sleeve, irritated.
"The throne has terrible timing."
The dragon raised its head slowly.
Its silver eyes burned.
"The choice begins."
Sable looked up, struggling.
"What choice?"
The throne answered.
Not in sound.
In power.
The clearing changed.
The world bent. And suddenly—
we weren’t standing in the forest anymore.
Everything around us vanished. There was total darkness, moonlight and stone.
A massive circular arena.
Ancient.
Infinite.
The throne now stood at its center.
Towering.
Alive.
Kael blinked.
"Okay.....I definitely hate this."
Zander looked fascinated.
"We’ve been pulled into its trial."
The dragon’s voice echoed.
"The final judgment."
The Fallen smiled.
"At last."
Sable rose slowly while breathing hard.
Her eyes were fixed on the throne. And beside it something appeared.
A mirror.
No.
Not a mirror.
A memory.
The memory of the first Queen.
The original version of Sable.
Standing in silver armor, crowned in moonlight.
And beside her stood the Fallen.
Before corruption, before shadow and before the whole.
They were both beautiful.
Sisters.
The truth hit all of us at once. They weren’t rivals.
They had once been one.
Two halves that were balanced.
The memory moved, continue playing itself.
The first Queen standing before the throne.
The Fallen beside her.
Then— the throne choosing.
Only one.
The other rejected.
The rejected one falling into darkness.
Becoming what stood before us now.
Sable stared at it with an horrified expression.
"That’s how it happened."
The Fallen’s smile faded.
"Yes."
Her voice carried pain now.
Real pain.
"They called it balance", she said while her eyes darkened.
"But it was betrayal."
The dragon growled.
"The throne cannot split itself."
"Then it should have broken!" she snapped.
The force of her anger shook the arena.
Sable stepped forward.
"You wanted to share."
The Fallen laughed bitterly.
"I wanted fairness."
Her silver–black eyes burned.
"She chose."
Sable looked at the memory version of herself.
"She chose survival."
"She chose power."
The distinction mattered.
And both of them knew it.
The throne pulsed.
The memory vanished.
The arena shook.
And then the real trial began.
Silver chains erupted from the ground. They were not attacking instead they were binding.
Wrapping around Sable and the Fallen.
Dragging both of them toward the throne.
Two claimants.
One seat.
Caius moved and was thrown back by invisible force.
I lunged but it was the same result.
Pain exploded through my chest.
No one could interfere.
The throne had made that clear.
The dragon’s voice rumbled.
"This is between Queens."
Sable struggled against the chains.
"What do I do?"
The throne answered.
Choose.
The Fallen laughed.
"It wants your truth."
"What truth?"
"The kind of Queen you are."
The chains glowed brighter.
Memories flooded Sable again.
I saw it on her face.
Pain.
Loss.
War.
Love.
Choice.
The Fallen’s chains darkened.
Her own memories surfacing.
Rejection.
Loneliness.
Rage.
Betrayal.
The throne was weighing them.
It was not looking for power. It was finding the truth.
And that terrified me.
Because the truth is always cruel.
The Fallen looked at Sable.
Softly now. Almost pleading.
"Take my hand."
Sable froze.
"If we join, the throne will accept both."
The dragon roared.
"Lie!"
The Fallen’s face twisted.
"Truth!"
The arena shook harder.
The throne pulsed violently.
It was unstable. Struggling.
Because maybe—
just maybe it wanted both.
But couldn’t hold both.
Sable looked at me.
She was lost and confused.
And I couldn’t reach her.
I couldn’t help.
So I did the only thing I could.
I spoke.
"Sable."
Her eyes found mine.
"Don’t choose based on the past."
Her breathing slowed.
"Choose you."
The Fallen’s expression darkened.
"You’d let her abandon me again?"
I met her gaze.
"No."
A pause.
"But she doesn’t owe you herself."
That hit her hard.
The Fallen flinched.
Because deep down, she knew it.
Sable’s chains loosened slightly.
The throne responding.
Choice were forming but then something changed suddenly.
Caius stiffened.
His eyes widening.
I felt it too.
Another presence.
Another power, entering the trial which was supposed to be impossible.
The arena darkened.
The shadows split.
And from them—a man stepped out.
He was tall, covered in black armor, his eyes red as blood—power ancient and violent surrounding him.
Caius went pale.
"No."
The Fallen smiled coldly and satisfied.
"Well."
She looked at him.
"Father."
My blood ran cold.
The Shadow King.
He was alive and standing inside the throne’s judgment.
Which meant one thing.
This had never been just about the Queens.
It was bigger.
Far bigger than any of us had ever imagined.
And whatever came next would decide the fate of every world tied to this throne.