Srijan_Pandey_8761

In the Golden Dragon Nation, your destiny is decided at sixteen by a single injection. For dirt-poor miner ** Zane Voidcrest**, the annual Awakening Day is his only chance to escape a life buried in coal and despair. But when the serum unlocks a forbidden bond with a primordial beast—a shadow-wolf with the voice of a forgotten god—Kael becomes a fugitive. Branded a “corrupted” threat by the Elite, hunted by jealous rivals like the pyrokinetic aristocrat **Zane Ashgrave**, and haunted by his wolf’s insatiable hunger for chaos, Kael must master his power before the Nation’s enemies strike.  

Monsters claw at the borders. Rebellions simmer in the slums. And the Primal Beasts, long thought extinct, are waking. To survive, Kael will forge alliances with outcast mages, rebel factions, and creatures of myth. But as he uncovers the dark truth behind the Elite’s “benevolent” rule, he realizes the real war isn’t between humans and monsters—it’s between those who chain the world… and those who dare to break it.

Ascendant Beasts : The Voidcrest Prophecy

### **Thalia's Ascent**

Thalia's spirit drifted through the Primal storm, a maelstrom of rage and sorrow. The fractured essences of ancient Primals lashed at her—wolves with star-pelted fur, serpents of molten shadow, eagles whose wings birthed tempests. Their pain was a symphony of betrayal, echoing the First Pact's shattering.

*"We trusted you,"* their voices thundered. *"You broke us."*

Thalia's violet essence flared, weaving threads of memory into the chaos: humans and Primals side by side, their hands clasped in unity, starlight mingling with blood. *"Remember,"* she whispered, the Veilwalker's power amplifying her voice across eons. *"We were allies. We can be again."*

The storm stilled. A single Primal—a wolf with galaxies for eyes—stepped forward. *"You are the Betrayer's blood."*

*"And his reckoning,"* Thalia replied. *"Help me mend what he tore apart."*

### **Zane's Crucible**

Zane stood before the Betrayer, the hive's core pulsating like a diseased heart. The Betrayer's new form shimmered, a fusion of void and stolen starlight, his laughter jagged.

"You think to replace me?" he sneered, tendrils of darkness lashing at Zane. "You are a *shadow*. A vessel."

The Heart's voice surged, eager. *"Strike him down. Claim his power. Become the core."*

Zane's shadows coiled, but he hesitated. Thalia's words echoed: *"The Pact wasn't about control. It was balance."*

He dropped his blade.

The Betrayer froze. "What—"

"I'm not you," Zane said. "And I won't become you."

### **The Siege of Light and Void**

In the physical realm, Lysandra and Lira led the charge against the hive's manifestations—monstrosities of flesh and machinery. Sunsteel rounds and Primal-forged daggers carved through the horde, but the ground itself rebelled, swallowing soldiers whole.

"We're not going to make it," Lira panted, her void-rotted eye bleeding.

Lysandra reloaded, her gaze steely. "We don't have to. We just have to *last.*"

A Primal wolf—Vyrthax—leaped into the fray, his howl a beacon. The surviving Elite and cultists rallied, a final, desperate stand beneath the black sun.

### **The Pact Reforged**

Thalia's spirit blazed, the Primals' essences weaving around her. The wolf with galaxy-eyes bowed. *"We remember. We… forgive."*

Light erupted, stitching the fractured Pact. In the hive's core, Zane felt it—a surge of unity, ancient and unyielding.

The Betrayer screamed as cracks spiderwebbed through his form. "No! I am eternal!"

"You're *nothing*," Zane said, shadows dissolving. "Just a ghost."

Thalia's voice echoed through the hive. *"Now, Zane!"*

He reached into the core, not to claim it—but to *shatter* it.

### **The Sacrifice**

The hive exploded, void-energy cascading outward. Zane glimpsed Thalia's spirit one last time, her smile bittersweet.

*"Thank you,"* she whispered.

Reality snapped back. The black sun imploded, the merged realms peeling apart.

### **Epilogue: The Veil's Price**

Dawn broke over a scarred but healing world. The fissures sealed, leaving only pale scars in the sky.

Zane woke in the ruins, Vyrthax's muzzle pressed to his cheek. Thalia's body lay beside him, her violet eyes closed, a faint smile on her lips. The relic shard, now inert, crumbled to dust in his hand.

Lysandra approached, her rifle slung. "The remnants… they're gone. The cult, the Elite—what's left just… walked away."

Zane nodded, the Heart's silence a void in his chest.

Lira knelt beside Thalia, placing a dagger over her heart. "She's not breathing. But she's… warm."

A single violet petal drifted from the sky, settling on Thalia's brow.

In the distance, a wolf howled—not of sorrow, but renewal.

Chapter 22: The First and Final Pact