Episode 17: "The Fire and the Howl"
---
EXT. SHADOWBOUND HIGH – FRONT COURTYARD – CONTINUOUS
The skies burn crimson as the colossal dragon, born of shadow and fire, roars into the night. Its wings spread wide, blotting out the stars. The heat from its body distorts the air, and the winds it stirs howl like banshees.
LORD ATHERON (still hovering in the air)
Your walls will crumble, your defenses will burn, and your chosen wolf will kneel!
KAEL (panting, adrenaline coursing)
Not today.
The students around him watch in awe. Some tremble, others grip their wands or weapons tighter. The dragon lands with an earth-shaking crash, and dozens of Wraithborne pour through the swirling portal behind it.
TUNDE (with a shaky grin)
So… we're fighting that now?
RHEA (glaring at the beast)
Unless it's here to give us a hug.
LANA (to Kael, serious)
We have to split up. If we don't push them back, they'll overrun the whole academy.
Kael nods. The mark on his arm flares again, pain dancing up his spine, but he clenches his fists through it.
KAEL
Rhea, take the south wing. Protect the first years. Tunde—support the east barricade. Lana… you're with me.
---
INT. SOUTH WING – NIGHT
Rhea rushes through the halls, directing younger students behind enchanted doors. As a Wraithborne leaps at her, she blasts it with a fire spell, then spins and freezes the remnants with an icy snap.
RHEA (to herself)
You picked the wrong school, shadow freaks.
She raises her wand again as a new group rounds the corner. Her magic spirals out in blazing arcs.
---
EXT. EAST BARRICADE
Tunde stands at the edge, shoulders squared. He lifts a massive chunk of stone with his enhanced strength and hurls it straight into the charging Wraithborne.
TUNDE (laughing)
Now this is cardio!
A Wraithborne tries to flank him, but he zips behind it with blinding speed, then uppercuts it so hard it vanishes in a puff of dark smoke.
---
EXT. FRONT COURTYARD – NIGHT
Kael and Lana face the shadow-dragon. It hisses, its eyes glowing like molten lava. With a sweep of its tail, it sends a group of senior students flying.
LANA (teleporting midair)
"Displace!"
She grabs a falling student and blinks them both safely to the side.
KAEL (eyes on the dragon)
I need to get close to it. Draw it out.
LANA
And what? Let it BBQ you?
KAEL (smirking)
Something like that.
The dragon's head lowers, preparing to unleash a fiery blast. Kael bolts forward, moving with supernatural speed. He dodges falling rubble and flaming debris, his eyes locked on the beast's throat.
Suddenly, the fire roars.
KAEL
"Aegis Lupus!"
A golden barrier snaps around him just in time. The fire washes over it, but Kael charges through—the werewolf magic shielding him. He leaps high and slashes the dragon's neck with his claws, the mark on his arm glowing fiercely.
The dragon shrieks and stumbles back, smoke curling from the gash.
---
INT. INNER COURTYARD – NIGHT
Meanwhile, in a hidden corner of the school, the Seers watch the chaos through a magical mirror.
FIRST SEER
The boy is changing faster than we predicted.
SECOND SEER
He's awakening more than just the wolf. He's something else entirely… a chosen force.
THIRD SEER
But will he survive the next phase?
---
EXT. SHADOWBOUND HIGH – BATTLEFIELD – LATER
The dragon, wounded but furious, takes to the sky again. Kael collapses to one knee, panting. His body is changing—veins glowing faintly, claws sharper, bones cracking unnaturally. He screams.
KAEL
What's... happening to me?!
LANA (kneeling beside him)
You're burning up! Kael, stay with me!
KAEL (clutching his chest)
It's—the bite. It's starting.
His transformation is beginning—18 hours after the alpha's bite, not the expected 24. His skin glows, his senses distort. He hears everything—the dragon's wings, Lana's heartbeat, the trembling of the earth.
His eyes flicker—not just golden now, but threaded with bright blue lightning.
LANA
Kael... your eyes.
Suddenly, Kael vanishes. In a flash of speed, he's behind the dragon, a blur of motion. With a primal roar, he slams into the dragon's back, sending it crashing to the ground again.
KAEL (growling)
I'm not the same anymore.
---
FLASHBACK – DREAMLIKE SEQUENCE
Kael stands in a realm of golden mist. A towering wolf—glowing, divine—walks toward him.
GREAT WOLF
You are more than werewolf. You are chosen. A guardian between worlds. The magic in your blood is ancient.
KAEL
Why me?
GREAT WOLF
Because your heart was pure. And your soul... unbreakable.
---
EXT. COURTYARD – NIGHT
Kael's eyes snap open. The energy in him pulses outward in a massive burst. The Wraithborne near him evaporate, and the dragon roars in pain.
The others stare at him in shock.
TUNDE (returning, bloodied but alive)
What the hell did I miss?!
RHEA (staggering forward)
Kael… that wasn't just a wolf. That was... something else.
LANA (quietly, in awe)
He's becoming a true alpha.
---
EXT. SKY ABOVE THE SCHOOL – NIGHT
Lord Atheron watches, expression unreadable.
LORD ATHERON
So... the boy awakens. Then let him witness true despair.
He raises both hands, and the portal widens.
More beasts—shadow ogres, twisted mages, even a serpent made of bone—begin to pour through.
---
EXT. COURTYARD – NIGHT
Kael turns to his friends, panting but standing tall.
KAEL
We hold this ground. No matter what comes through that portal. We stand. Together.
LANA (nodding)
Until the end.
TUNDE
Let's make it loud.
RHEA
And burn them all.
As the monsters pour out, the camera pulls back. A firelit battlefield. The portal roaring. Kael, glowing like a beacon of hope, steps forward—half-man, half-wolf, all fury.