Shadows of Ascension

63. Mordecai Shadowbane: The Wolf Assassin

As the dust settled from the last skirmish, more wolves appeared out of the shadows. Without hesitation, Aiden clenched his fists and slammed them into the ground. The sheer force of the impact sent shockwaves rippling through the earth, toppling the wolves instantly. The monsters didn’t stand a chance.

“They’re just wolves… but why do they have the monster mark?” Aiden muttered, glancing at the defeated creatures. “They’re ranked as F, weak monsters, but… this doesn’t make any sense.”

More wolves emerged, their eyes glowing with a sinister light. Luca’s expression was filled with confusion. “Where do they keep coming from? And why are they monsters?”

“Something’s wrong,” Riona said, her voice strained as she struggled to make sense of the situation. “Wolves aren’t supposed to be monsters… but they all bear the mark.”

“Don’t attack them directly,” Aiden instructed, his voice calm yet commanding. “If we do so, they will die. They’re just animals. We shouldn’t kill them.”

“Yes, but they keep appearing with that mark,” Oeifi pointed out, his eyes darting between the wolves and Shadowbane.

Shadowbane’s cold laughter echoed through the arena. With a simple gesture from him, the wolves attacked once more. The group fought them off easily, but the moment they defeated one wave, another appeared to take its place.

“Did you tame them, Shadowbane?” Aiden asked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Why are they monsters?”

Shadowbane chuckled, his gaze cold and calculating. “You wouldn’t understand the power I’ve obtained.”

Erebus, still weakened from his earlier fight, added, “Why are they marked as monsters?”

The laughter from Shadowbane ceased, replaced by a menacing silence. He looked at them with a dark, serious expression before finally speaking. “Do you know what I had to do to achieve this power?”

Everyone fell silent, their attention fixed on him.

“It wasn’t easy for me,” Shadowbane continued, his voice low and filled with bitterness. “Unlike all of you, I had to sacrifice—truly sacrifice—to become strong.”

“We’ve all sacrificed something!” Aiden snapped, his anger boiling over. “You’re not the only one who’s fought hard!”

Shadowbane smirked and slowly pulled aside his cloak, revealing his tattoo of a wolf’s head with eyes that seemed to glow with malice, with the words "wolf assassin" on his arm. “You know I’m called the Wolf Assassin… but do you know why?”

“The Canyon of Despair…” Shadowbane began, his tone grim. “That’s where I earned that title. I faced down thousands of wolves. They tore my friends apart, one by one. I was the only one left standing. It broke me.”

The group listened in silence, each of them processing the weight of his words in their own way. Shadowbane’s eyes grew distant, lost in memories that were both haunting and painful. “That’s how I became so strong. My life was put on the line, and I lost everyone. I realized then that I don’t need friends. I only need power.”

Riona looked at him with a mix of pity and revulsion. Luca clenched his fists, his knuckles white with tension. Erebus’ expression was unreadable, torn between his respect for strength and his horror at the cost.

Aiden’s voice cut through the silence. “So, those are the wolves from back then?”

Shadowbane’s laughter turned maniacal, echoing through the arena. “Behold, the power of Mordecai Shadowbane, the Wolf Assassin! I can tame the souls of those I’ve killed and turn them into monsters—if they weren’t already!”

The revelation hit them like a shockwave. Aiden, Riona, Luca, Erebus, and the brothers all looked at Shadowbane with a mixture of awe and horror. The wolves circling them were not just monsters—they were the spirits of the creatures Shadowbane had slain, twisted into something far more sinister.