12. Shadows of Blackwood

12

Shadows of Blackwood

Merin

H e took in the scorched earth and the blackened, twisted remains of what had once been homes and businesses and lives. He felt a chill run down his spine, a sickening sense of wrongness that made his stomach churn and his heart ache with a grief he couldn't quite name.

"What… what is this place?" he asked, his voice low and rough with emotion. "What happened here, Roman?"

Roman's jaw clenched, his eyes hardening with a pain and an anger that Merin knew all too well. "This is… was… the Blackwood pack's territory. My family's land, before my father lost his position as alpha to that bastard Redmond."

Merin's brow furrowed, confusion and curiosity warring in his mind. "Blackwood… that's your last name, isn't it? But I thought… I mean, I assumed you took it because…"

Roman shook his head, a bitter, humorless laugh escaping his lips. "Because they exiled me? Cast me out like I was nothing, like I didn't belong?" He sighed, running a hand through his hair in a gesture of frustration and grief. "No, I kept my name because it's the only thing I have left of my father. The only connection I still have to the man who loved me."

He reached out, twining his fingers with Roman's and giving his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry you had to go through that, had to lose your home and your family in one fell swoop."

Rio cleared his throat, his expression grim and his eyes haunted by a pain and a horror that made Merin's blood run cold. "I hate to interrupt, but we need to keep moving. Need to get to the pack house and see if we can find any clues, any leads on where they might have taken Roman's father."

Merin nodded, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand. They had a job to do, a mission to complete.

They made their way deeper into the heart of the pack's territory, picking their way through the rubble and the ash and the eerie, unsettling silence.

Merin felt a sense of wrongness, of darkness, pressing in on him from all sides. It was like the very air around them was thick with malice, with a hatred and a cruelty that made his skin crawl and his magic flare to life in response.

And then, as they rounded a corner and came face to face with the charred, crumbling remains of what had once been a great hall, a gathering place for the pack, he saw it.

Bodies. Dozens of them, scattered across the ground like broken dolls, their faces frozen in masks of terror and agony. Men and women, young and old, all bearing the marks of a battle they had never stood a chance of winning.

Merin couldn't tear his eyes away from the pile of corpses, the twisted, perverted altar that seemed to mock everything good and pure in the world. He felt bile rising in his throat, his stomach churning with a sickening mixture of revulsion and rage.

With a deep, shuddering breath, Merin tore his gaze away from the pile of bodies and turned to face his companions. "We need to keep moving," he said, his voice low and rough with emotion. "Need to search the pack house, see if we can find any clues or leads on where they might have taken Roman's dad."

Roman nodded, his jaw clenched and his eyes burning with a fierce, unwavering determination. "Merin's right. We can't afford to waste any more time. Every second we spend here, every moment we hesitate it's another chance for those bastards to slip away, to disappear into the shadows and take my father with them."

Rio's face twisted with fury, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "And let's not forget about that fucking coward Redmond," he spat, his voice dripping with contempt. "The bastard ran away first and saved his own ass, leaving the rest of the pack to fight for their lives. He's just as guilty as the monsters who attacked us, in my book."

Roman's eyes flashed with a rage so intense, it made Merin's blood run cold. "That fucking coward. Redmond doesn't deserve to call himself an alpha, doesn't deserve to lead any pack, after what he's done."

With a final, grim nod, the three of them set off towards the pack house, their steps quick and purposeful as they picked their way through the rubble and the ash. Merin could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his magic thrumming just beneath the surface of his skin as he scanned the area for any sign of danger, any hint of the dark forces that had wrought such destruction on the Blackwood pack.

They stepped over the threshold and into the heart of the once-great building… he felt his stomach sink, a cold, creeping dread washing over him like a tidal wave.

The place was a mess. A fucking disaster zone, with furniture overturned and walls scorched and the stench of dark magic hanging heavy in the air. It was clear that a battle had been fought here, a desperate, bloody struggle against an enemy that had no mercy, no remorse, no fucking shred of humanity left in their twisted, blackened souls.

Then his eyes fell on something that made his heart skip a beat in his chest.

A picture. A family portrait, lying crumpled and forgotten in the trash, its edges charred and its colors faded with age. But even through the grime and the damage, Merin could make out the faces of the people in the photo. Could see the love and the laughter and the joy shining in their eyes, the unbreakable bonds of family and pack that had once held them together.

And in the center of it all, his arm slung around a woman who could only be his mother, his face split in a grin that could have powered a small city. With a shaking hand, Merin reached out and plucked the photo from the trash. He brushed off the dirt and the ash, his fingers tracing the lines of Roman's face with a tenderness and a reverence.

"Merin? You okay, man?"

Rio's voice, low and concerned, jolted Merin out of his thoughts. He blinked, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs of memory and emotion that had settled over him like a shroud.

"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine. Just thinking, that's all."

Rio nodded, his expression grim and his eyes haunted by the same pain and grief that Merin knew all too well. "I get it, trust me. This place, these people they were my family too, you know? My pack, my fucking reason for living and breathing and fighting like hell to make the world a better place."

Roman spoke up, his voice low and intense as he held up a small, glinting object that made Merin's heart skip a beat in his chest. "I think I might have a way to track my father," he said, his eyes burning with a fierce, unwavering determination. "This ring, the one he gave to Rio before they took him it's infused with his essence. And as a hybrid, I might be able to use that connection, to find him."

As Roman threw the ring into the air, it with burst out like a shower of sparks and fireworks. There, shimmering in the air like a beacon, like a guiding star was a tether. A glowing, pulsing thread of magic that seemed to stretch out into the distance, into the unknown and the impossible.

Merin knew, with a bone-deep certainty, that they had found their path. Had found the way to Roman's father.

"That's it," Roman said, his voice low and filled with a quiet, unwavering conviction. "That's the tether we need to follow, the one that will lead us straight to him."

* * *

They raced through the woods, following the shimmering, pulsing thread of magic that stretched out before them like a lifeline.

Rio's voice, low and thoughtful, broke through his reverie like a stone through still water. "Roman have you given any thought to what happens after all this? To what you're going to do, once we find your father?"

Roman frowned, his brow furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Rio nodded, his expression serious and his eyes filled with a quiet, unwavering conviction. "You're the rightful alpha of this pack. The one who should be leading us, guiding us, helping us rebuild from the ashes of what those monsters destroyed."

Roman looked uncertain. Hesitant, like he wasn't sure he was worthy of the mantle that Rio was offering him. "I don't know, Rio. I mean… there's not much of a pack left, is there? Not after everything that's happened, everything we've lost."

Rio nodded and they all walked in silence. Merin still thought that Roman would make a great alpha but he wasn't going to force him if he wasn't ready to take that mantle.

They found a cave in the distance and the tether began to pulse and flicker with an urgency that set Merin's teeth on edge. He felt a sudden, sharp tug in his mind. A vision, a glimpse of the future that made his blood run cold and his heart pound with a fear he couldn't quite name.

Shadow creatures. Dozens of them, swarming out of the darkness like a plague, their eyes glowing with a malevolent, hungry light. And at their center, a figure cloaked in darkness, a twisted, perverted mockery of the magic that flowed through Merin's veins…

Wanda. The shadow witch. She was here.

Merin gasped, his hand flying to his chest as the vision faded, leaving him shaken and breathless. But even as he struggled to regain his composure, even as he tried to make sense of the horror he had just witnessed… he knew what he had to do.

With a thought, a flicker of power that surged through his body like a lightning bolt, he conjured his Arcane Bow. The weapon shimmered into existence in his hand, its dark wood thrumming with a power that made his very bones vibrate with anticipation.

"Get ready," he said, his voice low and urgent as he turned to face Roman and Rio. "This is a trap, a setup from the very beginning. Wanda is here, and she's brought an army of shadow creatures with her."

Roman's eyes widened, a flicker of fear and determination warring in their depths. "Wanda? The shadow witch? But how… how could she have known we were coming? How could she have set this trap for us?"

Merin shook his head, his jaw clenching with a grim, unyielding resolve. "I don't know, and right now, it doesn't matter. What matters is that we're here, and we're not going to let her stop us from finding your father and bringing him home."

He turned to Rio, his eyes flashing with a fierce, unwavering conviction. "I need you and Roman to clear a path for me. Shift into your bear forms and charge through those shadow creatures like a battering ram. I'll stay back and pick them off with my arrows, but I need you to get me inside that cave."

Rio nodded, his face set in a grim, determined line. "You got it, Merin. We'll get you in there, no matter what it takes."

And with that, they were moving. Roman and Rio shifted in a blur of fur and claws and teeth, their massive bear forms tearing through the shadow creatures like a hot knife through butter. Merin followed close behind, his bow singing as he loosed arrow after arrow into the fray, each one finding its mark with a precision and a power that made his very blood sing with a savage, primal joy.

Merin could feel the shadows growing thicker, the darkness pressing in on them from all sides. Wanda's power was strong here, a twisted, perverted force that seemed to suck the very light and life from the air around them.

And with each step, each shadow creature that fell beneath his arrows and Roman and Rio's claws… he could feel his own power waning, his magic straining against the onslaught of darkness that threatened to consume them all.

He needed to conserve his strength, needed to save his magic for the battle that he knew was coming. For the confrontation with Wanda that would decide the fate of Roman's father, of the pack that had been shattered by her cruelty and her malice.

He could feel the shadows creeping closer, their hungry eyes fixed on him with a malevolence that made his very soul shudder with revulsion.

They had reached the entrance to the cave, had fought their way through the horde of shadow creatures that had sought to bar their path.

Merin sagged against the wall, his chest heaving and his body trembling with exhaustion. But he knew that they couldn't afford to rest, couldn't afford to let their guard down for even a moment.

With a thought, a flicker of power that made his very bones ache with the effort he conjured a ball of light. A shimmering, pulsing orb that floated above their heads, casting a soft, silvery glow over the damp, musty walls of the cave.

And there, in the shadows that danced and flickered at the edges of the light he saw them. More shadow creatures, their eyes glowing with a hunger and a malice that made his blood run cold.

He raised his bow, his fingers trembling with exhaustion as he nocked an arrow to the string. But even as he fired, even as he watched the shaft pierce the heart of the nearest shadow creature and send it crumbling to dust.

Merin felt a sudden, sharp tug at the edges of his senses. A flicker of awareness, a whisper of power that made his skin prickle and his heart race with a fear he couldn't quite name.

There were people nearby. Their auras shining like beacons in the darkness of the cave.

"Roman, Rio," Merin called out, his voice low and urgent as he turned to face the two bears. "There are people up ahead. I can sense them, can feel their auras shining in the darkness. And Wanda… she's with them."

Roman's eyes widened, a flicker of fear and rage warring in their depths. "My father. She has to be with my father. We need to hurry, Merin. We need to get to him before it's too late."

Merin nodded, his jaw clenching with a grim, unyielding resolve. "I know. But we have to be careful, have to stay alert. Wanda is powerful, and she won't hesitate to use every trick and every ounce of her twisted magic to stop us from reaching him."

Rio growled, his bear form shifting and rippling with a barely contained fury. "Let her try. I'll tear her apart with my bare claws before I let her hurt anyone else."

A scream tore through the air. A raw, agonized sound that made Merin's blood run cold and his heart stutter to a stop in his chest. It was coming from up ahead. From the deepest, darkest depths of the cave, where the shadows seemed to writhe and pulse with a malevolent, hungry power.

With a roar that shook the very walls of the cave, Merin surged forward. He left Roman and Rio behind, his feet pounding against the damp, uneven ground as he raced towards the source of the scream, towards the dark, pulsing heart of Wanda's power.

He burst into a wide, open chamber, his bow raised and his arrows nocked and ready to fly. And there, in the center of the room, illuminated by the sickly, pulsing light of Wanda's magic was Roman's father.

He was lying on the ground, his body broken and bleeding, his face twisted in a mask of agony and despair. And standing over him, her hands wreathed in shadows and her eyes glowing with a malevolent, hungry light was Wanda.

Merin didn't hesitate. Didn't stop to think or to plan or to weigh the risks and the consequences of his actions. He simply raised his bow, his fingers steady and sure on the string, and fired.

Three arrows, in quick succession. They flew through the air like bolts of lightning, their tips gleaming with the silvery, shimmering light of Merin's magic.

But Wanda was fast. Faster than Merin had ever seen her move before, her body twisting and writhing like a snake as she dodged and weaved around the arrows with a grace and a speed that made his head spin and his stomach churn with fear.

"Well look who it is?" she purred, her voice low and mocking as she straightened up and fixed Merin with a gaze that burned with hatred and malice. "If it isn't the little seer, come to play hero once again. Don't you ever get tired of being a thorn in my master's side?"

Merin gritted his teeth, his grip tightening on his bow as he stared down the shadow witch with a gaze that blazed with righteous fury. "Your master is a monster, Wanda. A twisted, perverted creature who delights in the suffering of others. And I will never stop fighting him, or you, until the day I draw my last breath."

Wanda threw back her head and laughed, a cold, cruel sound that made Merin's skin crawl and his blood run cold in his veins. "Such brave words, little seer. But words won't save you, or the pathetic excuse for a pack that you've chosen to align yourself with. My master's plan is already in motion, and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

She raised her hands, shadows swirling and pulsing around her fingers like a living, breathing thing. "But by all means, keep trying. It will make your inevitable failure all the sweeter."

And with that, she attacked. A wave of shadow magic, dark and twisted and pulsing with a malevolent power, surged towards Merin like a tidal wave of pure, unadulterated evil.

But Merin was ready. He leapt to the side, his body twisting and contorting as he dodged and weaved around the attack with a grace and a speed that would have been impossible for anyone else.

And as he moved, as he danced and spun and leapt through the air like a leaf on the wind, he fired. Arrow after arrow, each one imbued with the shimmering, silvery light of his own magic, flew towards Wanda with a precision and a power that made his very blood sing with a savage, primal joy.

One of them found its mark. Pierced the shadow witch's shoulder, sending her staggering back with a howl of pain and rage that shook the very walls of the cave.

Wanda attacked again. A blast of shadow magic, dark and pulsing and crackling with a twisted, perverted power, surged towards him like a wave of pure, unadulterated death.

Merin reacted on instinct. He vanished his bow and arrows, the weapons shimmering out of existence like a mirage in the desert. And in their place, he conjured a shield of pure, shimmering arcane energy.

A barrier of light and power, glowing with the silvery, ethereal radiance of the moon and stars. It met Wanda's attack head-on, the two forces colliding with a burst of blinding, searing light that made Merin's eyes water and his skin tingle with the raw, primal power of the magic that flowed through his veins.

For a moment, the two forces held. Pushed against each other, straining and struggling for dominance in a battle that would decide the fate of Roman's father, of the pack that had been shattered by Wanda's cruelty and malice.

But Merin was stronger.

And with a final, devastating push, he broke through. His shield of arcane energy surged forward, slamming into Wanda's chest with a force that sent her flying backwards, her body smashing into the far wall of the cave with a sickening crack of bone and flesh.

She slumped to the ground, her eyes wide and glassy with pain and shock. But even as Merin stepped forward, his hands glowing with the silvery, shimmering light of his magic…

"This is not over. We will come for all of you and you will all bow to my Master." She said before vanishing. Disappeared in a swirl of shadows and smoke, her body fading away into nothingness like a ghost in the night.

Merin stood there for a moment, his chest heaving and his body trembling with the aftershocks of the battle. But even as he fought to catch his breath, even as he tried to calm the racing of his heart and the pounding of his blood in his ears…

He remembered. Remembered the reason he had come here, the mission that had brought him to this dark, twisted place.

Roman's father.

Merin raced to his side, his hands already glowing with the soft, gentle light of his healing magic. He knelt down beside Roman's father, his heart clenching with fear and sorrow as he took in the extent of the man's injuries.

He heard the sound of pounding feet, of heavy, lumbering bodies racing towards him through the darkness.

Roman and Rio. They burst into the chamber, their bear forms shifting and rippling as they transformed back into their human selves. And as Roman's eyes fell on the sight of his father, broken and bleeding but alive, cradled in Merin's arms.

He let out a sob. A raw, agonized sound that tore at Merin's heart and made his own eyes sting with tears of relief and joy.

"Dad," Roman whispered, his voice hoarse and trembling as he fell to his knees beside Merin. "Oh, Dad. I thought… I thought I'd lost you."

Roman's father smiled, a weak, pain-filled thing that nevertheless made his eyes shine with a love and a pride that took Merin's breath away. "Never, son. You'll never lose me. Not as long as I have breath in my body and strength in my heart."

He reached up, his hand cupping Roman's cheek with a tenderness that made Merin's own heart ache with longing and grief. "I knew you'd come for me. Knew you'd find a way to bring me home, to make those monsters pay for what they've done."

Roman let out a choked, broken laugh, his tears falling freely now as he leaned into his father's touch. "I had help," he said softly.

Roman's father smiled, his gaze shifting to Merin with a warmth and a kindness that made the seer's heart swell with pride and affection. "Then I owe them my life," he said softly, his voice rough with emotion. "And my gratitude, for standing by my son in his hour of need. For being the family he deserves, the pack that will always have his back."