The ruins loomed before me, a jagged skeleton of stone and decay. Vines strangled broken pillars, and shattered statues lay half-buried in the dirt, their faces lost to time. But it was shelter. It was hope.
I pushed forward, lungs burning. The wolf was close. Too close.
A blur of black. A snarl. Then pain.
Its claws raked my back, sending me sprawling onto the cracked stone. I gasped, struggling to push myself up. The wolf circled, lips curled back in a snarl. It knew I was cornered. It was toying with me.
I refused to die here.
I reached deep, grasping for my power, for anything that could turn the tide. The ember inside me pulsed. Weak. Flickering. But there.
The wolf lunged.
This time, I didn't just react. I let go.
A shockwave erupted from my body, not just a push, but a force that cracked the ground beneath me. The wolf was blasted backward, slamming into a crumbling pillar. Dust and debris rained down.
Silence.
Then, a low growl. The wolf was still alive.
But something else stirred in the ruins.
A presence. Cold. Watching.
I wasn't alone.