CHAPTER 1 — The Boy They Wanted to Sacrifice
The entire kingdom gathered around the ancient stone arena before sunrise.
Nobody came to watch a celebration.
They came to witness a death.
In the center stood a gigantic iron gate sealed with chains thicker than a man's arm.
Behind it...
Something breathed.
Every few seconds, the ground trembled beneath everyone's feet.
Children hid behind their parents.
Even hardened soldiers refused to look directly at the gate.
For twenty years, the kingdom had fed prisoners to the creature imprisoned beneath the mountain.
The villagers called it The Black Wolf Demon.
No one had ever escaped.
Not one.
Its victims were never found.
Only blood remained.
When the king appeared on the balcony, silence swallowed the crowd.
"Our harvest has failed."
"Our rivers have dried."
"Our people starve."
"The monster demands another offering."
The executioners dragged forward a thin fourteen-year-old farm boy.
His clothes were patched together from old flour sacks.
His boots barely held together with rope.
His name was Elias.
He had never stolen.
Never fought.
Never broken a law.
His only crime...
He was born poor.
Three nights earlier, the royal tax collectors had demanded grain that Elias's widowed mother simply didn't have.
She begged for mercy.
Instead...
They marked their door with black paint.
Everyone in the village knew what that meant.
One member of the family would be taken.
His mother screamed until her voice disappeared.
His little sister chased the soldiers barefoot through the mud.
Nobody helped.
Nobody dared.
As the guards shoved Elias toward the arena, people lowered their eyes in shame.
Even the king refused to look directly at him.
The old priest raised his hands.
"May this sacrifice satisfy the beast."
The chains rattled.
The iron gate slowly began to rise.
A blast of hot air poured from the darkness below.
Then...
Two enormous glowing golden eyes appeared.
The creature stepped into the light.
It stood taller than two horses.
Its black fur shimmered like polished obsidian.
Its fangs were longer than daggers.
Massive claws carved deep grooves into solid stone with every step.
Women fainted.
Soldiers tightened their grips on their spears.
Even the king instinctively stepped backward.
The beast let out a roar so powerful that birds fell from the sky.
The guards shoved Elias forward.
He stumbled...
Fell to his knees...
And waited to die.
The monster slowly approached.
Closer...
Closer...
Its enormous jaws opened.
The crowd covered their faces.
Everyone expected blood.
Instead...
The beast gently lowered its head...
Touched its nose against the terrified boy's forehead...
And quietly knelt before him.
The entire kingdom stopped breathing.
No one understood why.
But the oldest woman in the crowd suddenly dropped her cane.
Her face turned completely pale.
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She whispered only four words...
"Impossible... He's still alive."
