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His words hang in the air for a moment before I speak up. “Active?” I ask, dread knotting my stomach.

“That means they can be dormant right now, but if anything threatens what they’re guarding…” he trails off, and I understand.

I start to move cautiously in response. Rhyland nods in affirmation, his lips pursed and eyebrows knitted together in a serious expression. He tightens his grip on my hand as we start walking, moving slowly and cautiously as if our lives depend on it. I know Adrian’s words to be accurate. The slightest misstep could awaken whatever ancient power is hidden within this place.

A guttural, bone-chilling rumble echoes through the shadowed tunnel, followed by the harsh scraping of jagged claws against stone. Eyes widening, I feel an icy chill race down my spine as realization dawns. Something sinister lurks just out of sight in the smothering darkness ahead.

Slinking from the stygian gloom emerges a small pack of cadaverous wolves, all exposed bone and matted fur. The unnatural creatures circle with predatory intent, hellish eyes aglow and rancid saliva dripping freely from their gnashing maws. Even my radiant mage light seems dimmed in their presence.

Adrian seethes urgently under his breath, "Bone-howlers. According to obscure legends, a depraved sorcerer once called upon the darkest forces in existence to create an army of unending guardians for this place." He nods grimly toward the snarling beasts. "The result—souls violently ripped from the afterlife and bound to the physical, then infused with primordial shadow energy. Neither dead nor truly alive."

Rhyland's protective stance shifts subtly as he tracks the restless pack, primal fear racing through us both now.

"What can we do?" I whisper.

Adrian's face is grim. "Their vile power roots them here, an insurmountable barrier keeping out all who seek the relic. I fear we cannot pass."

The howlers continue prowling, their guttural utterances setting my teeth on edge. Those gnarled yellow fangs look capable of easily rending flesh from bone. Rancid drool spills freely down their jaws, anticipation coming off them in waves. They mean to feast on us.

Rhyland shoves me securely behind him, muscles coiled with tension as he braces for their attack. "Stay close to me, Danica. Do not leave my sight." I nod mutely, throat tight with dread.

Then Rhyland addresses the nightmarish pack, fury blazing in his eyes. "I'll be damned if a bunch of mangy fucking walking carcasses stop me."

Adrian and I trade uneasy looks, knowing the situation is dire. The beasts continue circling with chilling coordination as we debate our next move.

Without warning, I feel icy, fetid breath billowing against the back of my vulnerable neck, shards of ice cascading down my spine. Whirling in reflexive terror, I find an imposing alpha wolf looming but a foot away, baleful yellow gaze fixed intently on me alone.

It pounces in a blur of matted fur and exposed bone, a bloodcurdling scream tearing from my throat. Before I can even attempt to defend myself, its jagged claws are ripping through my clothes and shredding the tender skin beneath. I hit the unforgiving ground hard, the beast pinning me beneath it. Putrid breath washes over me as I struggle fruitlessly, shrieking in agony as those serrated fangs dart toward my throat.

From seemingly far away, I hear Rhyland's bellow of rage. In my periphery, he's grappling with two other howlers trying to drag him down.

The crushing weight atop me is abruptly gone. Howling furiously, the wolf impacts the far wall and falls in a cascade of shattered bone. But before my eyes, the pieces skitter back together, reanimating within seconds.

I've just scrambled upright before another lunge past my stunned guard toward Rhyland, who barely twists away from its grasping claws in time. He retaliates with a kinetic pulse that sends the howler flying backward, though it rises unfazed.

Meanwhile, Adrian has begun chanting sonorously, hands outstretched and eyes closed in deep focus. A resonant hum builds in the air, and without warning, a shock wave of mystic energy detonates out from his position, sending nearby howlers airborne amid a cloud of dust and debris. But they reassemble and return to the fray, tireless and undeterred.

In desperation, Adrian summons sizzling spears of blue light from his palms, flinging them in a barrage to pierce through their ranks. But the fallen soon stir again. We cannot overcome such relentless supernatural stamina through force alone.

A wild howler suddenly lunges straight for Rhyland's exposed throat, jaws unhinging grotesquely wide in anticipation. I cry out in warning, but it's too late. There's a sickening crunch of bone and a gush of hot blood as its curved fangs sink mercilessly into his shoulder near the joint, ripping the tender flesh in its viselike jaws.

Rhyland bellows in agony, wrenching savagely at the growling beast, still attempting to shred sinew from the bone. He tears its head loose with an almighty heave and sends the body flying apart into the dirt. But as I watch in despair, the pieces slowly drag themselves back together, already fixing their ravenous stare upon Rhyland once more.

Cursing fiercely, Rhyland starts furiously stomping the reforming skull beneath his boot, attempting to pulverize the fragments beyond repair. But more howlers emerge from the shadows to replace their fallen kin. We're being overwhelmed by these tireless horrors.

In desperation, I send a bolt of celestial light streaking wildly across the claustrophobic chamber, striking one wolf about to lunge upon Erik and sending its shattered pieces away. Erik spares me a grateful nod before neatly dispatching another of the pack with a sweep of his blessed silver blade. But our efforts barely slow their relentless tide.

"We must return them to the earth; it's their only weakness!" Adrian roars over the din.

At his grim command, Erik's sword becomes a silver arc as he hacks away chunks of the howlers, kicking the remnants into a deep crevice open nearby. But more quickly take their place, their eerie screeches reverberating through the tunnels.

With a bellowed oath, Adrian violently slams his hands down, raw mystic power detonating outwards. Ancient stone fractures and splits beneath us, a yawning pit opening up to swallow the closest howling beasts. They plummet soundlessly into the crushing dark below. With a sweeping gesture, Adrian seals the aperture once more in a cascade of soil and rock.

"That will not contain them for long. We must get what we came for and leave this place quickly!" he pants, sweat beading on his brow from exertion.

Trading desperate looks, we sprint away down the only route left open to us, the furious cries of the damned pursuing from below. Pain wracks through every cell as exhaustion drags me down.

“Hold on.” Rhyland insists, his voice resolute and urgent. “I need to heal Dani.”