Left forthe Wolves

The shrine was supposed to be empty. A forgotten ruin swallowed by the forest. The last trial before the hero’s blessing awakened. A place where loyalty would be proven, not tested like this. He said someone had to stand inside the circle while the ritual took hold. He looked at you when he said it. “You’re the only one strong enough.” So you stepped forward. The spell does not feel like pain at first. It feels like distance. Like your hands are already too far away to move. Like the ground has tilted slightly out of reach. Like their footsteps are happening at the bottom of a well. Then the pain arrives. Slow. Deliberate. Something turning the idea of a body off piece by piece. The light drains from the circle. Into him. Into the hero. “You were the safest choice,” he says q