Ascendant Beasts : The Voidcrest Prophecy

The wind howled through the Frostspire Peaks, carrying the metallic tang of snow and blood. Thalia crouched beside Zane, her fingers brushing his wrist to check his pulse. Steady, but too slow. His skin was feverish, the shadowy veins beneath it faint but unmistakable. The Heart's poison was returning.

"We need to keep moving," the Grand Marshal said, kicking ice from his boots. His gaze lingered on Thalia's satchel, where the Covenant Stone shard glowed dully. "The Elite will send scouts. They'll want the Stone."

"Let them come," Vyrthax growled, his starry fur matted with dried blood. "The wolf has teeth yet."

Thalia ignored them, her violet eyes scanning the horizon. The northern fissure pulsed like a wound, its edges shimmering with the same oily light as the Devourer's tendrils. Another gateway. Another war.

Zane stirred, his amber eyes fluttering open. "Did we… win?"

"Barely," the Grand Marshal muttered.

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### Ghosts in the Snow

That night, Thalia dreamt of her brother.

He stood in a field of ash, the relic cloth clutched in his skeletal hands. His mouth moved, but no sound came out—only the faint echo of screams from the fissure.

"The chains… break the chains…"

Thalia reached for him, but the ash thickened, choking her. She woke gasping, her brother's voice still ringing in her skull.

Zane sat nearby, sharpening a dagger. "You were talking in your sleep. Something about chains."

"It's him," she whispered. "My brother. He's trying to show me something."

Vyrthax lifted his head. "The Veilwalker's path is never clean. The dead cling harder than the living."

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### The Fractured Marshal

At dawn, the Grand Marshal vanished.

Thalia found his tracks leading to a shallow cave, where a sunsteel communicator buzzed with static. She crouched, catching fragments of a transmitted voice: "…retrieve the Stone… eliminate the corrupted…"

"Planning to stab us in the back?"

The Grand Marshal stepped from the shadows, his spear leveled at her chest. "You don't understand what's coming. The Elite have weapons—things that make the Sundial look like a toy. Give me the Stone, and I'll spare you."

Thalia's thorns coiled at her wrists. "Or what? You'll kill me?"

His jaw tightened. "I don't want to."

A roar split the air—not the Devourer, but Zane.

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### The Heart's Echo

Zane knelt in the snow, shadows writhing around him like serpents. His eyes flickered black as he clutched his chest, breath ragged.

"It's back," he rasped. "The Heart—it's angry."

Thalia sprinted toward him, but the shadows lashed out, carving furrows in the ice.

"Weakling,"the Heart's voice boomed through Zane's lips. "You think you can hide from me?"

Vyrthax lunged, pinning Zane down. "Fight it, cub!"

The Grand Marshal watched, his spear wavering. "This is what the Elite fear. This is why he dies."

Thalia stepped between them. "Touch him, and I'll bury you in this ice."

---

### The Brother's Truth

The vision returned that night, clearer.

Her brother stood at the edge of the fissure, the relic cloth now a noose around his neck. "The cult's leader… our father."

Thalia jolted awake, bile rising in her throat. Impossible.Her father had died in the mines years ago—crushed in a collapse. But the relic's glow pulsed in agreement, casting violet light on a half-buried memory: her father's hands, scarred with the same void rot as Lira's.

Zane found her retching in the snow. "Thalia?"

"He's alive," she choked. "My father. He's leading the cult."

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### The Loyalty Test

The Grand Marshal returned at dawn, his face haggard. "The fissure widens. The cult is gathering there."

Thalia stood, her dagger pressed to his throat. "You contacted the Elite. You'll lead them here."

He didn't flinch. "Yes. But not for the Stone." He nodded to Zane. "For him. They want the Heart's host alive."

Zane's shadows flared. "Why?"

"To study. To replicate." The Grand Marshal's voice dropped. "To weaponize."

Vyrthax snarled. "The wolf says no."

"The wolf doesn't command here." The Grand Marshal met Thalia's gaze. "Your father isn't the only monster in these peaks."

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### The Chain Revealed

They reached the fissure by midday. Cultists swarmed below, their bone masks upturned as they chanted. At the center stood a man in obsidian robes, his face hidden—but Thalia knew his stance. The way he tilted his head, the scarred hands raised to the sky.

Father.

Zane's shadows surged. "We end this now."

Thalia gripped his arm. "No. We need the relic. It's the only way to break the chain."

Her brother's voice whispered: "The Veil is the key."

The Grand Marshal loaded his spear. "Make your choice, girl. Family or fate."

Thalia stepped into the open, her violet eyes blazing.

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**End of Chapter 11**