Chapter 177

The chamber remained deathly silent after the voice echoed through the hall.

"You left us to die."

The words settled heavily across the broken council chamber while the mountain continued trembling beneath them. Black mist poured endlessly from the widening fracture in the floor, spreading across the stone like living smoke while the enormous eye beneath the territory remained fixed entirely on Kael.

Ariana barely noticed the terrified wolves retreating toward the exits anymore.

Her attention remained on him.

Kael had gone completely still beside her, and that frightened her more than the creature beneath the mountain. Silver lightning flickered violently across his skin while tension moved visibly through his shoulders, but he no longer looked fully present inside the chamber around them.

He looked like someone trapped between two worlds.

"Kael," Ariana said softly.

His breathing remained uneven for several seconds before he finally spoke.

"We sealed them alive."

The confession crashed through the chamber harder than the tremors shaking the mountain itself.

Several elders stared at him in disbelief while warriors near the walls exchanged alarmed looks. No one seemed capable of deciding whether they should fear the creature beneath the territory more or the memories surfacing inside the Lycan standing before them.

One elder shook his head immediately. "No. The ancient war was fought to protect the bloodlines."

Kael slowly lifted his gaze toward the chamber.

The moment Ariana saw his eyes, cold spread through her chest hard enough to steal her breath. He had not transformed fully, and nothing about him looked monstrous or out of control. That was what unsettled her most. The look in his eyes did not belong to rage or instinct anymore. It felt ancient, heavy with memories and grief old enough to survive centuries buried inside the Lycan bloodline itself.

Like the Lycan was no longer remembering fragments of the past anymore, but reliving them.

"We were losing," he said quietly.

The chamber fell completely silent.

Kael’s voice sounded distant now, almost like part of him was speaking from inside the memory itself rather than the present. Ariana could feel it through the bond connecting them. Images and emotions kept slipping through his control, old enough and heavy enough to make her chest ache with grief she could barely understand.

"The dragons fell first," Kael continued. "Then the wolves. The Underworld kept spreading no matter how many creatures we killed."

Another violent tremor rolled through the mountain while black mist surged higher through the fracture below the chamber floor.

Kael pressed one hand sharply against his head as if trying to force the memories back down. "The Sovereigns created the prison because there was no other choice left."

Vormerion lowered his massive bronze head slightly. "He is remembering the first war."

One elder looked horrified. "That’s impossible. Those events happened thousands of years ago."

"The bloodlines remember more than your histories do," Augustus answered quietly.

Another chain snapped beneath the mountain.

The sound echoed endlessly through the chamber, deep enough to make the walls crack further while terrified wolves stumbled toward the exits in panic. This time the movement below the territory felt closer, stronger, like something enormous was finally reaching the surface after centuries buried beneath the world.

Ariana grabbed Kael’s arm immediately. "Look at me."

For several painful seconds, he did not respond.

Then his eyes slowly shifted toward her.

The moment their gazes met, Ariana felt the difference instantly.

Kael was still there.

But something older had awakened beneath the surface of the Lycan, something carrying memories no human mind should have been able to survive for this long.

"You’re here," she whispered softly.

His expression tightened slightly, almost like hearing her voice pulled him back toward the present.

Then another memory struck him.

Kael staggered hard enough that Ariana had to catch him this time while silver lightning exploded violently across the chamber floor. The force shattered more stone beneath their feet as the mountain groaned around them.

And suddenly Ariana saw it too.

Not through her own power.

Through him.

A battlefield drowned in ash beneath shattered skies.

Dragons burning as they fell from the heavens while wolves bled across broken stone below.

Massive chains glowing with ancient symbols stretched across endless darkness.

And standing at the center of it all was a man surrounded by silver lightning, facing the Underworld completely alone while creatures climbed endlessly from beneath the earth.

The figure turned slightly.

And for one horrifying second, Ariana saw Kael’s eyes staring back at her from another lifetime.

The vision vanished instantly.

Kael sucked in a sharp breath like someone waking from drowning while the pressure surrounding him surged violently through the chamber again.

Augustus noticed immediately.

"So that is why," he murmured quietly.

Lucien looked sharply toward him. "Why what?"

Augustus’ silver eyes remained fixed on Kael. "Why the Underworld recognized him first."

Cold spread through Ariana’s chest again as the truth settled heavily inside her mind.

The thing beneath the mountain did not recognize Kael because he carried the Lycan bloodline.

It recognized him because part of the Lycan had already fought this war before.

The enormous eye beneath the chamber slowly shifted while another deep vibration rolled through the territory itself.

Then the voice returned.

Not inside Ariana’s mind this time.

Inside the entire chamber.

"The Guardian remembers his failure."

Several wolves collapsed instantly beneath the pressure behind the words while silver flames along the walls flickered violently before dying out completely.

Kael’s jaw tightened painfully.

Ariana could feel the rage building beneath his control now, but underneath the rage she felt something far worse.

Guilt.

Ancient and crushing enough to survive centuries.

The creature beneath the territory moved again.

This time part of its massive body became visible through the widening fracture beneath the chamber floor. Black chains wrapped tightly around something enormous while glowing symbols burned faintly across ancient metal buried deep within the stone itself.

Then one enormous claw pulled upward against the restraints.

The entire mountain shook violently.

Outside, every dragon roared at once while golden fire exploded across the skies above the territory.

Vormerion spread his massive bronze wings immediately, ancient power radiating through the collapsing chamber as his glowing eyes fixed on the darkness below.

"It’s trying to break free," Lucien said quietly.

"No," Augustus corrected, his expression darkening as he stared into the fracture beneath the hall.

For the first time since entering the chamber, even he looked unsettled.

Then the final chain snapped beneath the mountain.

And something below the world began to laugh.