Chapter 51 Chapter 51
Leonidas's POV
The thing in the darkness smiled, and every instinct in me screamed.
Run.
It didn't tell me to fight or to protect but to run.
My wolf was losing it inside me, claws scraping against my mind, snarling like it recognized the thing rising beneath the broken throne.
That terrified me because wolves understood danger better than men did.
And mine had never reacted like this. It didn't react like that to the Fallen, to the Shadow King, and not even to the dragon.
But this—
this was something else.
The darkness beneath the throne moved like liquid, crawling through the cracks in the arena floor. It wasn't shadow but more like an absence. Like light itself refused to touch it.
And from inside it, something began to rise.
At first, I saw only eyes.
Hundreds of them opening one after another. There were silver, red, gold, and black.
Each one staring, watching quietly while waiting to judge.
Kael cursed under his breath.
"What in hell is that?"
For once, nobody answered because no one knew.
Not even the dragon.
And if the dragon didn't know, then we were in trouble.
The Shadow King stepped backward.
That alone said enough for me to understand without using words.
Fear.
Real fear.
Caius saw it too.
His voice hardened.
"What is it?"
His father’s jaw tightened.
"A god."
Silence.
Even the air seemed to freeze.
Sable stiffened beside me, her fingers tightened around mine while the Fallen's face had gone pale.
And for someone who had lived through centuries, that meant this thing was older than all of us.
The darkness split open as a hand emerged.
It was huge.
Too large to belong to any human creature.
Its skin looked like it was carved from night itself, veins glowing silver beneath black flesh.
Then the second hand also emerged, followed by its body which was massive, humanoid, and screaming ancient. Its shoulders scraped the edges of reality itself as it climbed into the arena.
The broken throne shook violently while the thing stood up properly, and the entire arena bowed—not physically but spiritually.
Power bent.
Time bent.
Reality bent.
And then—it spoke.
Its voice was calm.
Far too calm.
"So....."
Its eyes settled on Sable.
"The throne breathes again."
The dragon dropped to one knee, and I stared astonished as the dragon bowed, not to Sable but to it.
Kael's voice dropped.
"That's bad, isn't it?"
Zander actually looked uneasy.
Which was saying something.
The Shadow King stepped forward.
"You were sealed."
The god turned its head slowly and deliberately towards him.
Its smile widened.
"And yet here I am."
The Fallen moved closer to Sable instinctively.
Protective which was new, strange and deeply unsettling.
Sable's voice shook.
"What are you?"
The moment its eyes locked onto her, recognition flickered there.
Ancient and possessive.
"Your beginning."
My blood froze.
No.
No.
That couldn't be right.
The throne's voice had called Sable Queen, not creation or origin.
But the god laughed softly.
"You really don’t remember."
The power around Sable shifted. Silver fire dancing around her violently.
Her memories. They were reacting again.
The Shadow King's expression darkened.
"Don't speak to her."
The god looked amused.
"You command me?"
Its power moved, but it was invisible and violent.
The Shadow King flew backward like paper, crashing hard into the arena wall.
Caius shouted—
"Father!"
But the Shadow King stayed down, barely breathing.
I stepped in front of Sable.
My wolf pushing hard now.
Telling me to protect, kill, destroy anything and everything.
The god looked at me with its many eyes narrowed.
"The mate."
The word felt wrong coming from its mouth, like something sacred was being touched by filth.
Sable stepped beside me.
Not behind.
She stood strong even though she was terrified.
"What do you want?"
The god tilted its head.
"Want?"
It smiled.
"I made wanting."
That answer made no sense yet somehow it made perfect sense.
The Fallen spoke.
Quietly.
"You made the throne."
The god looked at her with a pleased expression.
"At least one remembers."
My chest tightened.
The dragon lifted its head slowly.
"Creator."
Creator.
That word changed everything.
Everything.
The throne.
The Queen.
The Alphas.
The packs.
All of it were made by him.
No.
Not him.
It.
The creator.
Sable's breathing became uneven. And I knew why.
Because her power was reacting.
Calling.
Recognizing.
The creator smiled.
"My daughters."
He looked between Sable and the Fallen.
The Fallen flinched while my stomach dropped.
No.
The Queen line came from him.
They didn't come from the wolves, not gods.
Him.
Sable whispered softly,
"You made us."
The creator's smile deepened.
"Yes."
The dragon growled.
"And we sealed you."
His gaze shifted to it.
"And you failed."
Power exploded.
The dragon was slammed into the ground so hard the arena cracked beneath it.
Kael moved fast and brave which was a stupid thing to do. He shifted mid–run, lunging for the creator's throat, but the creator caught him by the neck effortlessly.
Held him up in the air.
Kael clawed at his hand, growling violently.
The creator looked bored.
"Alpha blood."
His grip tightened.
"Still weak."
I attacked too with no thought just pure instinct.
My claws slashed across his arm and for the first time—
blood.
Black blood.
The creator looked down at his blood interestingly.
Then at me.
"Well."
He dropped Kael to the ground very hard and smiled.
"That's new."
Zander blurred forward, his fangs out with a speed that was deadly. He struck but was thrown through stone like he was nothing.
Caius attacked next.
Shadow power exploding from him like blades.
The creator actually blocked and that mattered a a lot because he blocked.
He didn't ignored, didn't endured but blocked.
Caius saw it too.
And pushed harder.
The Shadow King rose even though he was still bleeding.
Furious.
"Together!"
The next seconds became chaos.
Caius.
His father.
Me.
Kael recovering.
Zander rejoining.
The dragon.
All attacking at once.
And still, the creator stood laughing, fighting and still winning. He moved like reality bent for him.
Every strike against him hurt, but none of them slowed him down.
Sable watched everything, while she stood there frozen.
Because this wasn't her war.
Not yet.
But the Fallen turned to her.
"It is."
Sable shook her head.
"I don't know how."
The Fallen grabbed her shoulders.
"You do."
Their silver–black bond glowed.
The shared throne.
The shared power.
The shared truth.
"Feel it."
Sable closed her eyes.
And I felt it.
Her power were shifting, changing and balancing together.
The creator threw me across the arena as I felt pain tore through my ribs again yet I got up again.
Because Sable was there.
Because I wasn't done.
Because dying wasn't an option.
The creator looked annoyed now.
"Persistent."
The Shadow King snarled.
"She is not yours."
The creator laughed.
"She was always mine."
That hit Sable hard and I saw it.
The anger.
The rejection.
No.
She wasn't anyone's.
And then she moved.
Silver and black light exploded around her.
The Fallen beside her.
Matching. Balancing together with their twin powers.
The creator stopped smiling.
Which was good.
Sable lifted her head.
Her eyes were glowing silver–black now. They were not divided rather they were whole joined together.
And her voice when she spoke shook the entire arena.
"No."
The creator stilled.
Sable stepped forward.
"You made power."
Another step.
"But you do not own it."
The creator's smile vanished.
At last his face showed anger.
Real anger.
The throne behind him cracked wider.
It was responding.
Power poured into Sable and into the Fallen together.
The creator looked almost impressed.
"You evolved."
Sable raised her hand.
"And you stayed the same."
The blast that hit him tore the arena apart as silver–black energy slammed into his chest.
For the first time, the creator moved back.
It was not much but still enough.
Enough to matter.
Enough to prove he could also be hurt.
The dragon rose slowly with hope in its eyes.
The Shadow King smiled grimly.
"There it is."
The creator touched his chest, looked at the damage and then laughed.
He was not amused or surprised but excited.
"Yes."
His eyes burned brighter.
"Yes."
The arena darkened.
His true power was rising and suddenly, I understood the real horror.
He hadn't been fighting seriously all this time.
Not even once.
Not until now.
The creator stretched his arms and behind him, the darkness opened.
Not shadow but a world, a kingdom full of creatures.
Monsters.
Sleeping armies.
Ancient things.
Waiting.
The creator smiled.
"Shall we begin properly?"
And behind him, the army started waking forward.