Chapter 64 : The First Sign of Collapse

Chapter 64: Chapter 64 : The First Sign of Collapse

Several days passed after Ash discovered the ancient network beneath Frostfang.

Nothing happened.

At least, nothing that the Blackfangs could see.

The valley slowly returned to the rhythm it had known before Moonveil began revealing its secrets. Hunters went out at dawn and returned before the cold became unbearable.

The adults repaired damaged shelters, reinforced the watch posts, and gathered whatever dry wood remained beneath the snow.

The younger wolves had already begun treating the events around Moonveil like another story they would someday tell their own cubs.

For them, life was becoming normal again.

For Ash, it was becoming stranger.

Every morning, before the settlement fully awakened, he climbed the low ridge overlooking the valley and practiced using the abilities he had gained from the Ancient Predator.

He had expected some dramatic transformation after devouring such an old creature, but the changes in his body had been subtle enough that nobody else seemed to notice them.

His muscles felt denser beneath his fur. His movements were more controlled, and his body recovered faster after exhausting himself.

The soreness that once remained after a difficult hunt disappeared within hours.

Even his breathing had changed, becoming slower and more efficient whenever he ran.

But Ash quickly learned that strength was not the same as invincibility.

He tested himself by dragging a frozen carcass that he would previously have needed help moving. It took effort, and his paws slipped several times against the ice, but he eventually managed to pull it across the snow.

He stopped halfway and breathed heavily.

The improvement was real.

It simply wasn’t miraculous.

Ash looked down at his forelegs and flexed his claws against the snow. The Ancient Predator had not turned him into an unstoppable creature.

It had strengthened the foundation of his body, giving him room to grow rather than placing him at the top of the food chain.

That realization actually relieved him.

He had seen what happened to creatures that became too powerful without understanding the world around them.

The ancient memories had shown him enough to know that strength alone had never protected the old civilizations.

Knowledge had.

Adaptation had.

And sometimes, knowing when not to fight had been the difference between survival and extinction.

Ash closed his eyes and activated Predator’s Instinct.

The valley changed.

Not physically, but within his perception.

Every movement seemed to carry meaning. The direction of the wind, the disturbed snow, the scent of distant animals, the faint pressure of paws against frozen ground.

His instincts didn’t tell him exactly what would happen. Instead, they helped him understand what the environment was already saying.

He opened his eyes.

Something felt wrong.

Ash stood still for several moments.

The valley looked peaceful.

Yet his instincts kept telling him that something had changed.

He couldn’t identify it.

Not yet.

A howl from the settlement interrupted his thoughts.

"Ash!"

He turned.

Rowan stood near the eastern trail with three hunters behind him. The older wolf raised his head and called again.

"We’re leaving for the morning hunt."

Ash descended the ridge.

The hunting group moved through the eastern forest for nearly an hour before Rowan slowed them near a wide clearing. Fresh tracks covered the snow, and several deer had passed through during the night.

Normally, the sight would have been encouraging.

Instead, Ash noticed something strange.

The tracks weren’t heading toward the forest.

They were heading toward the Blackfang settlement.

Rowan studied them with a puzzled expression.

"That’s odd."

One of the hunters lowered his head.

"They’re moving toward the valley."

Ash looked at the tracks again.

"They’re running."

Rowan frowned.

"Deer don’t run toward wolves."

Ash followed the trail with his eyes.

The tracks were deep and irregular. Several of the animals had stumbled, as if they had been running for a long time without stopping.

"They aren’t running from us," Ash said.

Rowan looked at him.

"Then what are they running from?"

Ash didn’t answer.

He didn’t know.

They continued deeper into the forest, but the strange behavior became more obvious.

The hunters found several groups of deer moving in the same direction. Normally, they would have scattered after detecting the wolves, but the animals barely reacted to them.

One young deer even ran directly past Rowan.

The hunter instinctively stepped aside.

"Something is very wrong."

Ash watched the animal disappear into the trees.

Then he noticed the birds.

There were almost none.

The western forest had always been filled with the distant calls of small birds, especially during the morning. Even during the harshest winter, a few remained among the trees.

Today, the branches were empty.

No wings moved.

No calls echoed between the trunks.

The forest had become unnaturally quiet.

Ash stopped walking.

Rowan looked back.

"What is it?"

Ash slowly turned toward the western trees.

"The birds left."

Rowan’s expression tightened.

"Because of predators?"

Ash shook his head.

"If predators were here, the deer wouldn’t be running toward us."

The older wolf looked toward the forest.

Nobody spoke for several moments.

They returned to the settlement earlier than planned.

By afternoon, the strange behavior had spread across the valley.

Birds had disappeared from the western forest almost entirely. Several herbivore herds had changed their usual routes and were moving toward the eastern mountains. Predators that normally guarded their territories had begun abandoning them.

Even the wolves noticed.

A pack of wild wolves was seen crossing the valley without stopping.

They didn’t hunt.

They didn’t mark territory.

They simply kept moving.

Mira watched them disappear into the distance.

"Animals don’t abandon good hunting grounds without reason."

Ash stood beside her.

"No."

Mira looked at him.

"You know something."

"I know something is wrong."

"That’s not the same thing."

Ash looked toward the western forest.

"No. It isn’t."

That evening, Ash went to Aren.

The Silver Lynx was sitting near the edge of the settlement, watching the western trees.

"You noticed it too," Ash said.

Aren didn’t turn.

"The forest is wrong."

Ash sat beside him.

"What does your tribe say about strange migrations?"

Aren thought for a moment.

"Animals leave when territory becomes unsafe."

"Even predators?"

"Especially predators."

Ash stared toward the trees.

"Something is making the entire ecosystem move."

Aren’s ears shifted.

"Do you think it is connected to the seals?"

Ash hesitated.

"I don’t know."

He looked toward the western mountains.

"But I think we should find out."

The two of them left before sunrise.

They travelled west without taking the main hunting path. Ash wanted to avoid disturbing the animals and, more importantly, he wanted to see whether his Ancient Energy Perception could reveal something hidden beneath the forest.

For several hours, nothing appeared unusual.

Snow covered the ground.

The trees stood motionless.

Occasional tracks crossed their path.

Then Ash activated his perception.

The world beneath the snow appeared.

Thin blue lines stretched through the earth.

The ancient network was still there.

But something had changed.

Black streaks were spreading through the blue energy.

They were faint at first, almost like shadows beneath clear water.

Ash stopped.

Aren immediately noticed.

"What did you see?"

Ash stared beneath his paws.

"The network is contaminated."

Aren moved closer.

"By what?"

"I don’t know."

Ash followed the black streak with his eyes.

It moved along the ancient energy line.

Not randomly.

It had direction.

Ash’s ears slowly lowered.

"It’s moving."

"Where?"

Ash turned toward the west.

"From the broken seal."

Aren became silent.

They continued following the contaminated energy.

The further they travelled, the stranger the forest became.

There were no birds.

No small animals.

No insects beneath the bark.

Even the usual wind seemed absent.

Then they reached a river.

Aren stopped.

The river should have been completely frozen.

Instead, a wide section of the ice had melted.

Steam rose gently from the dark water beneath.

Ash approached carefully.

He lowered one paw toward the edge.

Warmth travelled through his fur.

He pulled back.

"The water is warm."

Aren stared.

"That shouldn’t be possible."

Ash activated Ancient Energy Perception.

The riverbed glowed.

An ancient energy line passed directly beneath it.

But it wasn’t flowing normally.

Something was pushing energy upward from below.

Ash watched the current.

"It’s coming from underground."

Aren looked toward the forest.

"Could that be why the animals are leaving?"

"Maybe."

Then they heard a scream.

It came from farther west.

Both wolves reacted immediately.

They crossed the river and moved through the trees.

The scream came again.

They followed it until the forest suddenly opened into a wide clearing.

Ash stopped.

The sight before him made his body tense.

Hundreds of animals stood together.

Deer stood beside wild boars.

Wolves stood among them.

Several predators were mixed into the herd without attacking anything.

None of them moved.

None of them fought.

Every animal faced the same direction.

West.

Aren whispered, "I’ve never seen anything like this."

Ash slowly stepped forward.

The animals didn’t react.

They were listening.

Waiting.

Ash activated Predator’s Instinct.

His senses sharpened.

Then he felt it.

A vibration beneath the ground.

Very faint.

Then another.

The earth shifted beneath his paws.

Every animal in the clearing raised its head.

For one heartbeat, the entire forest became completely silent.

Then something moved underground.

The ground cracked.

The animals exploded into motion.

Deer fled between the trees. Wolves sprinted after them. Boars crashed through the undergrowth. Birds suddenly erupted from distant branches.

The entire clearing emptied within seconds.

Ash and Aren remained.

Ash stared at the cracks beneath the snow.

Something had moved below them.

Not far below.

Something large.

Aren’s claws dug into the ground.

"That wasn’t an earthquake."

Ash shook his head.

"No."

He looked toward the western forest.

"It was something moving."

They followed the disturbance.

The trail eventually led them to a shallow ravine where the snow had collapsed inward.

At the bottom lay a dead deer.

Ash climbed down.

The carcass looked almost untouched.

There were no bite marks.

No broken bones.

No torn flesh.

Yet something about it was deeply wrong.

Ash activated Ancient Energy Perception.

His expression changed.

"The energy is gone."

Aren looked at him.

"What energy?"

"Ancient energy."

Ash carefully examined the carcass.

"Every living creature carries some. Usually very little. This one had almost none."

Aren stared at the body.

"What could drain it?"

Ash didn’t answer.

A sound came from the trees.

Something had followed them.

Ash slowly raised his head.

Aren lowered his body.

The forest remained still.

Then a branch snapped.

Ash’s eyes narrowed.

Something moved between the trees.

It was watching them.

And it wasn’t alone.

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To be continued...