Chapter 56. The New Moon Rises

The Vale Territory was quiet now, the dawn light filtering through the trees that hid the makeshift assembly grounds. The air, though still holding the scent of old battle, was clean, scrubbed by the night’s cool air and the absence of the Corrupted Soul.

The assembled ranks of the Ashen Reign—a mixed army of Bloodmoon defectors, freed Omegas, and liberated wolves—stood tense but unified. They had witnessed the fall of a fortress and the return of their Queen, but the final, dazzling light of the Ashen Flame was gone, leaving Neriah mortal and vulnerable. They waited for direction in a world drowning in chaos.

In the center of the clearing, shackled and guarded, sat the captured remnants of the old power structure—a terrified, shivering Elder Borin and the calculating, defeated figure of Thalia.

Caius stood at Neriah’s side, his presence a silent guarantee of protection and power. His wound was stabilized, but the toll of his sacrifice was visible in the lines etch