Withering Glare Novels & Stories

Behind us, in the deep shadows, the watcher’s eyes glowed brighter. His lips curled into a cruel smile. The Rift’s power was rising and soon, it would sweep across everything we knew.

The Architects' murmurs were drowned, swept aside by a single deep resonance. The corrupted numbers stopped, their advance spasmodic and bewildered. They recoiled away from the golden radiance, which was incinerating their shadow-forms with a searing explicitness. "He's fighting them!" Gloria panted, amazement in her voice. "He's fighting them using the raw energy of the Lode!"

I tripped out. As I turned my glare, his face became clear enough for my vision, as the bright moon shone in the woods with full force, flashing a heavy ray of light on his face like a blast. I winced, my eyes squeezed shut, yet hallucinating. They shot open again after a few seconds. Alpha Grey..? Alpha Grey..?? Alpha Grey..???

I could feel it surging through my veins like fire. My eyes burned. Actually burned. Aisha’s expression changed suddenly. “Oh no.” Krager crouched beside us. “What?” “Her eyes.” “What about them?” “They’re glowing.” Krager leaned closer. His expression hardened. I could see the reflection of my own eyes in his. They were glowing. Bright. Gold. But not the normal glow of a wolf shifting. This light was stronger. Brighter. Almost… unnatural. The Darkbreed I had attacked finally scrambled away across the dirt, clutching his throat.

The crowd felt their whole body become cold, and they broke out in cold sweats. "How audacious!" Declan shouted, took out an ancient mirror the size of two palms, and pointed it toward the black cloud. In an instant, a dazzling brilliance appeared on the mirror's surface, comparable to the light of the scorching sun. The light surged out of the mirror, quickly spreading out as a huge roar erupted. As soon as the fiery glow touched the black cloud, all of the faces on the black cloud began to melt like candles while hoarse wailing erupted, and it sounded as if a real person was being roasted on the fire.

Then, like tiny cracks breaking across glass, the whispers begin. Hidden. Half-swallowed. Still loud enough to press against my senses. “Is that Aria…?” “No Clara look at the eyes ” “It’s both. It has to be both.” My heartbeat flutters if you can call it a heartbeat anymore. The younger warriors lean in, wide-eyed. “Bro she’s literally glowing.” “Shut up!” “No you shut up, my wolf is literally rolling over!” Behind them, older warriors bow too quickly to control. “I felt my knees go weak did you feel that?”

The rain stopped falling and the sun shone bright above the ruins of Cumoreen. The streets were soaked with the remnants of what had been. Scales glinting like broken glass, charred banners fluttering weakly in the heat of ruin. Amid it all, Ligon walked. Barefoot, shirt torn, he had let the wolf skin fall from him, now he stood more human, Glacy trailed beside him, a half-step behind, not out of submission, but reverence. Her skin was smudged with soot and and her gaze, though tired burned with quiet pride and awe.

‘I love you too, my little mate,’ he says. Down by the gates the new wolves roar, over the boundary and barricade they sweep, and they drive through the masses of vampires and wolves as a wind among grass. Behind them and us from the pack-land come the stern cries of our warriors, driving forth the enemy. We are soon going to have them enclosed and at our mercy. Within the formed circle, the enemy halts. Light grows bright about us. Shafts of the sun glare above Glyder Fawr and glimmer against the rare patches of snow that are still white.

The morning after the "Siege of Radiance" did not bring the sun, nor did it bring the relief of a clear sky. Instead, Aethelgard was entombed in a thick, artificial twilight. The "Void-Mist"—that volatile mixture of geothermal steam and processed carbon Audrey had unleashed—clung to the valley floor like a living shroud. It was a heavy, slate-grey fog that tasted of wet copper and old smoke, a protective barrier that made the golden sensors of the Southern fleet blind and useless.

Ivor said, his smile slipping into something serious, "So, you're telling me your thoughts are being taken without you even noticing?" The way he stared me down made me shrink a little. But I still nodded. He didn't ask anything else. He just drew a deep pull from his pipe, then let out a stream of smoke. Only, the smoke didn't fade. It circled me, curling tighter and tighter until it all rushed into the necklace around my neck. That cat puffed up, hissed at me, and arched its back as if it were ready to fight. I froze, shivering so badly that my hands went numb, but I didn't dare move.