The Shining Armor Infection Novels & Stories

​The Ghost-City Awakens ​Outside the ruins of the Spire, the Gutter was silent. ​Thousands of people stepped out from the deep-tunnels and the storm-drains, their faces covered in the white ash of the Spire. They looked at the crater where their "God" had stood, then they looked at their own hands. They were still glowing, a faint, steady gold. The "Black Bloom" was gone, but the infection remained, a permanent gift of the Alpha.

I stopped beside her to see what could shock someone like her. The injured soldier had black, pulsing vein all over his hands, crawling up to the length of his neck. He convulsed violently on the table, nearly falling off. His saliva bubbled mixed with white foam. His eyes were screwed shut as if he was experiencing a nightmare. The sight was repulsive. “Get him out of here!” Ophelia screamed in panic. “He has been infected with the Shadow curse. Once those veins burst and any of the fluid touches you, you become infected immediately.”

Ruby, upon hearing my voice, looked up from the policewoman's arms, her eyes swimming in tears. Her look was a tangled mess of emotions: fear, shame, but above all, a desperate hope, like she was clinging to a lifeline, and a barely perceptible flicker... A silent question, checking if I was sticking to the plan. Choking back sobs, she reached for me. "Honey... honey..." I moved quickly, brushing past Seth's scorching stare, and wrapped Ruby in my arms, shielding her from the prying lenses with my back, a fortress of protection.

“And where on Earth did you come from?” This wolf doesn’t respond, but as if hearing my question, the howl of another beast cuts through the wind. Great, just what I need, a small pack of infected fighting over me like a chew toy. Thankfully, my leather armor is spelled. Pulling down my goggles and pulling up my mask, I can feel the hum of the protection spell activating as the circuit is closed. If I had known that we’d be facing super wolves, I’d have stayed up late to finish Hawthorne’s coat. I know he doesn’t like the tight fighting leathers, so I have been crafting a version made of chaps and a duster to keep him safe.

" Careful. They poison what they touch." I didn’t care. “Then I’ll burn faster than they spread.” By the time Garrick returned, blood - black and shining - stained his armor. “They’re multiplying!” he shouted. “Every time one falls, two rise!” I looked up. The clouds over the moon had turned crimson at the edges, pulsing. And for a heartbeat, I felt her. A whisper, deep and sweet as rot. "He bleeds so beautifully, doesn’t he, sister?" I growled, forcing the voice out. “Not tonight.”

A deafening explosion rocked the area and the front line of infected fell Alex stared. "What the hell was that?" Sharon looked at him. "A surprise." Another wave of infected surged through the broken gate. Alex smiled. "You really are full of them, aren't you?" Sharon fired another round For the first time, they fought back to back. Whenever an infected got close to Sharon, Alex felled it. Whenever Alex was surrounded, Sharon covered him. It was seamless; their movements were like a well-rehearsed dance After a few minutes, the enemy horde began to thin. The remaining infected slunk back into the forest

An entire pack to protect. “Hold the south flank!” I shouted, my voice hoarse. “Shield wall—NOW!” My men surged forward, pushing back the enemy, steel clashing on steel. The invaders weren’t rogues. Their armor gleamed dark with strange sigils etched into their chestplates. Their eyes glowed gold. They moved in perfect sync, like shadows trained to kill. I cut through them anyway. One slash. Two. I twisted, flame bursting from my knuckles, searing straight through a soldier’s chest. He didn’t even scream. Just crumpled like ash.

But the corruption fights back, spreads faster. "It's not enough," I grit out, sweat soaking my clothes. "We need—" “What? Tell me?” Alaric grunts as he restrains another victim. The infection's changing," I tell him, tracking its spread through another victim's blood. "Adapting to—" My words cut off as dark energy shoots toward his throat. Without thinking, I throw myself between them, taking the hit instead. His roar of fury fills the room as corruption races through my veins. But even as pain blinds me, I feel his power wrap around me, shielding, protecting… taking the dark energy into himself instead.

“Then we stop it. Whatever it takes.” --- The next day was spent in rigorous preparation. The armor was reinforced with moonstone plating. Potions were brewed and blessed. Each member of the infiltration team was branded with a concealment sigil that blurred their presence to magical detection. At sundown, Aria walked the length of the fortress alone. She passed soldiers training under torchlight, the clatter of steel echoing like a heartbeat. She watched healers tending to the wounded from Red Peak. She lingered briefly at the Moon Altar, where fresh flowers had been placed by young pups.

"Do not let it reach the Queen!" "It’s not just the gold, General!" Alpha Draven shouted, his claws extending as his charcoal-grey fur bristled in terror. From the tunnel entrances, the shadows on the walls began to peel away. They weren't Malachi’s loyal shadows anymore. They were the twisted, elongated silhouettes of the infected Northern wolves, their eyes glowing with the featureless white void of the Inquisitors. They poured into the chamber like a flood of liquid ink, their jaws snapping with a hunger that targeted the very life-force of the living.