CHAPTER 190: LOOK WHAT I FOUND

[Old World – Greater Woods ]

Velor was all alone...but he moved like a thing that had been waiting a long time to be let loose.Like he was tracking something... heading somewhere he wanted to be... for too long

The forest was unnervingly still.

No sound of any animal whatsoever... not even the rustle of leaves under his boots.

Velor was almost moving like a man possessed.

Not the confident, regal stride of the charismatic Alpha he had always been...but the hungry, careful steps of a predator who knew the kill was close.

A narrow dagger glinted faintly in his hand. He held it lightly, as though it were merely an extension of his fingers.

His sharp eyes glimmered unnaturally under the slanted daylight.

" This is a fucking miracle..." he scoffed aloud.Almost laughing,almost reverent, "never in my wildest dreams did I imagine you would lead me to this, Autumn..."

A broad, deliberate smile pulled at his lips.

"...But you did.And look where I am going...look at me,Autumn..."

The grin widened until it almost looked feral.

He ducked under low branches, weaving through brambles without care for the scratches they left. Each thorn that tore at his shirt only seemed to make his anticipation grow.

The terrain shifted subtly at first...the shadows lengthened, the light dimmed drastically...until it was as though he had crossed some unseen border.

By all rights, it was still midday. Yet here, the forest felt like late dusk.

And the deeper he went, the happier he became.

"Ohhh..." Velor’s breath came out in an exhale that was more hysteric than a scoff. He tilted his head back, nostrils flaring as he inhaled deeply. Both arms stretched outward like he was trying to embrace the very air... the sky and the universe.

"Yes... yes... I can feel it," he whispered, almost giddy. "Isolde’s grave... hidden by the mythical Mystery Mist itself..."

A low chuckle rippled from his chest.

"Oh, goodness... how can I be so lucky?The ever deceptive Mystery Mist that always swirls out of reach, trapping unexpected prey except when it surfaces and settles down...when it senses its blood near...a cursor...Autumn you did it for me...you made me so damn happy..."

The slope steepened. His boots skidded against damp earth, and he began to half walk, half slide downhill, the dagger still loose in his grip.

The valley ahead was shrouded in a dense, coiling heavy fog, darker than any mist...anything the daylight should allow.

When his foot touched the first patch of soggy, black soil at the valley’s mouth...the wind answered.

A sudden gust roared up from the depths, almost knocking him off his feet. He staggered, catching himself with one hand braced against a twisted tree trunk.

The air was getting cooler the further he descended. Heavier as well. Like it clung to the skin like damp silk.

Velor’s grin only sharpened.

He pressed forward, ignoring the drag of mud at his boots. Thorns reached for him again, snagging on his trousers and cutting at the skin beneath. One particularly vicious briar tore across his forearm.

He glanced down, expecting the shallow wound to seal instantly... like it always does.

But it didn’t.

The blood beaded...dark and sluggish on his skin...before it started bleeding.The sting of it burned far more than it should have.

A flash of surprise crossed his features but then he laughed. " Oh well... well! That is not at all surprising! Of course..." he murmured, licking the copper taste from the corner of his mouth. "The Mystery Mist does not welcome outsiders. But I am not here to ask for permission,My Lady. "

He stepped forward again, eyes locked on the swirling gloom ahead.

"This..." he breathed, "...is my shortcut to eternity.And I am going to make the most out of this...forgive my shortcomings...or not..."

His voice took on a feverish edge before he shrugged it all off.

"The moment I take Isolde’s mortal remains back to Calareth... there will be no force on earth that can match mine. Not Kieran. Not the Council of cowards. Not Thorgar. Not even the gods themselves."

His eyes sparked...not with the cold calculation of a commander, but with something far less restrained. Something dangerous.

"And then..." he whispered, the words curling like smoke, "...I can introduce you to your true self, Autumn."

The mist seemed to thicken around him, greedy for his words...or may be wrapping around him like a cocoon. "So you can finally embrace your true powers. You won’t need to live in fear..." He chuckled. "...or under anybody’s shade. No... no, my sweet Autumn... you and I will soar so high, the world will tremble beneath our shadows."

His voice broke into a hiccup. Then absurdly into a giggle. It was the kind of sound that didn’t belong in a place so sacred, so secluded and shrouded...against the thickening silence.

Velor pressed a hand to his side, still chuckling under his breath as he stepped deeper into the dark... and then he stepped on something that felt suspiciously like a land mine.

It took him a few minutes to understand that he had actually stepped on some really hard stone...but land mine or not,the moment his boots stepped on those stones...the air changed.

Velor paused.

A slow hush rolled over the valley, like the world itself had inhaled... and now refused to exhale.

The moss under the stone was darker here...almost black or like dried blood to be exact...and the carved stone steps leading to...perhaps...the crypt...shimmered with a faint, ghostly sheen. Glyphs glowed along the path. Old magic. Forgotten tongues.

He stepped forward...one foot at a time...just to be on the safe side.

Nothing happened. Nothing changed.

But then... out of nowhere... he suddenly felt a tremendous force.

Invisible of course and too violent.

It slammed right into him without warning, like hitting an unseen wall at full speed.

Velor staggered back, catching himself just before he could fall into the mist wet dark ground.

His breath hitched. He blinked hard, as if his vision had deceived him.

Then he growled and lunged forward again.

SLAM!!!

It struck harder this time.

Velor’s body crashed backward, spine jarring against those hard stones.

Something deep inside him shuddered.

"What the hell is this?" he snarled, pushing to his feet. "Who dares block my path?Do you know who I am, moron? "

The mist started stirring at the edges as if in response, curling like tendrils watching him. Mocking maybe.

Velor’s eyes burned molten. "I, Alpha Velor, command this land in the name of the Bloodfang bloodline..."

"You hold no dominion here, insignificant being!"

The voice was unmistakably ancient.

Female.

Layered with emotions.

And it echoed from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

It even scraped the inside of his skull, brushed the marrow of his bones... like shaking him from the inside.

Velor’s head jerked up. " Is...Isolde??!!"

But the voice kept talking, completely ignoring him as if it were prerecorded.

"You brought blood to her doorstep. Rage. Ambition. But none of these will open her grave. She had closed her soul and sheltered it away from this world with no morals, from men who know nothing except greed... ! "

He stumbled forward again, pushing harder against what felt like an invisible glass door. His hand outstretched, lips pursed...

But his efforts met thin air.

But then all of a sudden the force field vanished and he stumbled forward...there was just nothing.

He felt nothing.

He tried extending his claws... but he only saw nails.

His senses were muted.

And he couldn’t even feel his wolf... it went absolutely silent for some reason.

Panic surged like ice water through his veins. It literally gave him the chills.

" No! No... no! " Velor murmured.

He strained trying to shift. Nothing.

Tried to summon his strength.

All gone.

"No...!" he bellowed. "What sorcery is this?This is not fair..."

"This is Isolde’s sanctuary...you trespassed on her sacred resting place," the voice replied.

"Your Alpha birthright holds no sway here."

Velor’s breath fogged in front of him. Not from the cold...but from something else.

His knees buckled slightly, and for a flicker of a second, he looked simply like a human being. Just an ordinary man. Not a legend... not an Alpha.

"Give it back," he growled. "I didn’t come this far for..."

"You came too far ,werewolf.You should be grateful for each breath! "

The stone glowed suddenly underfoot, and the mists began to move.

A circle started forming...wide...surrounding what Velor presumed was the crypt’s entrance.

Velor’s eyes narrowed.

Then he roared, stepping forward again, clawing at the barrier with bare hands.

"I WILL NOT BE KEPT OUT!I WILL GET WHAT I CAME HERE FOR...I AM NOT LETTING THIS ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY GO..."

Flesh on his fingertips tore as he scraped against the invisible wall.

The mist turned crimson where his blood hit it.

Still the door would not yield.

He grabbed the dagger and held it up, ready to plunge it into the stone itself.

"Don’t make me do this!" he warned.

"You already have done everything wrong you possibly could, werewolf."

The words struck like thunder.

And then the entire sanctuary reacted.

A shockwave of light erupted from the glyphs.

Velor was thrown violently backward...his body airborne...before crashing into a pillar of old roots and stone. He coughed blood. Gritted his teeth. Crawled forward.

He was panting now... unusually tired.

But still wild and desperate.

"I will tear this place apart with my bare hands if I have to," he spat, dragging himself up the stairs again.

The mist swirled tighter.

And then a figure began to form in the shadows of the supposed crypt’s entrance.

No face. No features. Just an unnatural presence.Watching Velor.

Waiting for someone’s command.

Velor raised the dagger again, eyes blazing.

"Open the gate," he demanded.

No answer...Just wind.

And then...CRACK.

A sound split the air...not from the sky, but from below.

The ground shook.

The stone at his feet fractured in a jagged line, like it was hit by a severe earth quake...spreading outward like a spiderweb.

Velor froze.

"...What the...?" he whispered.

The voice returned, low now. Almost mournful.

"You knocked on a door meant never to open...now you bear the consequences..."

He turned. And saw it properly this time.

A second gate was opening.

But not to welcome him.

To release something else...

Velor took one step back.

Just one... almost panting...