ANMELDENThe Base in the DarkPOV: Calista RiversWe did not stay in the grand plaza for long.The cheers of the thousands of free citizens were still ringing in my ears, but my doctor’s brain knew that a crowd in an open space was just a giant target. The Council had lost its main tower, but they still had helicopters, armored cars, and plenty of angry soldiers in the surrounding districts. If a single loyal pilot got into the air, the plaza would turn into a slaughterhouse in less than a minute."Move them down into the subways" I told Alpha Magnus, my voice shaking from exhaustion. "Get the people off the streets before the upper districts realize what happened."Magnus quickly barked out orders to his captains, and the great wave of people began to flow down into the dark concrete stairs of the transit system.By the time the sun was fully up, our old subway tunnel beneath the Bronx had turned into a bustling underground city. It was more than two thousand people other than the initial
POV: Calista RiversThe glass door just exploded outward like a shower of sharp ice.Kael was a giant gray blur in the dark hallway. His heavy paws hit the clean floor tiles with loud thuds as he slammed his chest straight into the front line of the grey-armored Enforcers. The shock-shields they held carried a bright blue current, but without the central computer grid to power them, the electrical sparks were weak. They just fizzled against Kael’s thick gray fur like harmless bugs.The Enforcers let out sharp screams of terror as the wolf’s long jaws snapped shut around their shoulder guards, throwing them against the walls like empty leather sacks."Advance!" Alpha Magnus roared, tumbling out of the dark elevator shaft behind me. His old hunting rifle was already barking in the dark room. *Bang! Bang! Bang!*The remaining forty northern wolves flooded through the ruined glass frame, their amber eyes glowed like hot coals in the thick white smoke. They did not have to worry about
POV: Calista RiversWe moved fast down the new concrete tunnel. The old railway lines were taken over by smooth grey floors that looked clean enough for a hospital. Red emergency lights blinked along the curved ceiling every ten feet, casting a blood-colored glow over the eighty wolves running behind us. The air was a stark contrast to the muddy tunnels we had spent the last twenty-four hours callously navigating.Kael kept his hand firmly on my waist, practically carrying me forward as my boots skidded on the smooth floor. My empty left sleeve was pinned flat against my chest, and my broken collarbone throbbed with every single step, but there was no time to slow down. The loud sound of our running boots echoed off the walls like a volley of drums."How far to the main server room?" Kael asked as he ran."Two hundred yards" Jarek called back from the front of the line. He had dropped his old brass compass and was now holding a stolen Council tablet he had taken from a dead Enforc
The Runed DoorPOV: Calista RiversThe midnight march down the dark tunnel felt like walking into the throat of a great stone beast.We moved in total silence, it was a long line of eighty wolves walking in single file between the rusted iron rails. We left the yellow light of the station house behind and carryied only three small electric lanterns to guide our boots over the wet wooden ties. The damp air grew colder the deeper we went, the smelling of wet concrete and the greasy scent of long-dead machinery grew heavier.I walked near the front of the line, right behind Alpha Magnus. My left arm was bound tight against my ribs with a clean white cloth, keeping my broken collarbone from moving. My right hand was wrapped in a thick layer of soft gauze to protect the raw burns Dante had left behind, but I kept my fingers loose, ready for whatever lay ahead.Kael walked directly behind me. In the darkness of the tunnel, I couldn't see his face, but the thin soul-thread in my chest w
POV: Calista RiversThe five logging trucks rolled down the broken back roads of the city instead of using the highways, their engines made a low rumble in the morning air. Jarek knew the old pathways that the city planners had forgotten fifty years ago. We drove through empty industrial lots, under crumbling concrete overpasses, and past abandoned brick factories where the windows were all smashed into tiny glass teeth.I sat in the front cab of the third truck this time. Alpha Magnus had ordered the driver to give me the padded seat so my broken collarbone would not take another beating from the hard wooden floorboards in the back.Kael sat right next to me in the cramped space, his long legs were pushing up against the dashboard. Even though he had wrapped a clean denim shirt over his torn bandages, I could still smell the metallic scent of his blood every time the truck heater blew warm air into our faces. He kept his right hand resting on the seat cushion between us, his fin
After the StormPOV: Calista RiversThe morning sun felt fake. It was a bright, pale orange circle climbing up behind the tall city buildings and throwing long shadows across the bloody concrete of the pier. The gray fog was slowly melting away, but it left behind the awful smell of burnt metal, old blood, and wet ash.I sat on the rusty rear bumper of the third logging truck, wrapped in three heavy wool blankets. I was shivering so hard my teeth made a clicking sound in the quiet air. My right hand was a raw mess of blisters from grabbing Dante’s dark sword, and my left shoulder was completely dead to any feeling. The silver veins under my skin had gone dark, leaving me so tired I could barely keep my eyes open.A few feet away, Kael was working fast. He had found a clean white sheet in one of the truck cabs and was tearing it into long strips with his teeth. His own jacket was ripped to pieces, showing the deep, dark gashes on his arm where the hunting hound had bitten him hours
POV: Calista RiversThe rain came down in hard, icy sheets that stung my skin and soaked straight into my tight white bandages. I lay flat on the wet gravel between the heavy steel train tracks and painful gasps. The black soot from the coal chute was smeared all over my face and hands mixed with
POV: Calista RiversKael ran fast. He looked like a wild animal that was possessed by a demon. His long legs moved quickly down the dark streets while I held onto his neck with the good arm. Every single bump we hit, and every sharp turn he made sent a horrible flash of pain straight through my b
POV: Calista RiversMy boots filled with water with every step, making a wet, heavy sound against the pavement.We moved through the industrial blocks of Eleventh Avenue, hugging the shadows of brick warehouses and rusted loading docks. The city around us was alive as sirens wailed in the distance,
POV: Calista RiversThe Hudson River was so cold and still felt heavy, like a sheet of liquid iron slamming into my chest.The black water completely swallowed me up while cutting off the wail of the sirens and the smell of the smoke in a single second. The current beneath the pier was just a chaot







