Page 129 of The Hyena’s Guardian

The bond tightened sharply between them as they faced the charging swarm together, and Matt felt something inside Theron finally change. The hesitation that had defined him for centuries was gone.

Theron was choosing.

The realization hit the King just as hard as it hit Matt. For one brief moment, the ancient wolf no longer looked certain he would win.

The throne chamber buckled, and entire sections of the outer bridges finally gave way.

Stone disappeared into the abyss below in massive collapsing waves while black mineral veins spread frantically across the remaining supports like cracks racing through ice. Gunfire echoed through the chaos as Vale’s teams fought to hold the surviving platforms long enough for Baptiste to reach the final charge point beneath the throne.

But everyone in the chamber understood the truth now.

The stabilizers were no longer enough to keep the fracture contained.

The seal was failing too fast.

Baptiste reached the central support column first and slammed one hand against the detonator clipped to his vest. Several amber lights flashed red. His face went pale.

“Theron!” he shouted over the collapsing chamber. “The stabilizers aren’t holding the fracture lines anymore!”

Cold satisfaction settled across the First King’s face. Of course he already knew.

The mountain groaned beneath them with a deep, living sound while another chain snapped beside the throne. This time the platform did not merely shift downward. It lurched violently toward the abyss as black mineral erupted across the remaining bridges in branching waves.

The seal was collapsing from beneath the throne. But the mountain was not folding inward the way it should have. Instead, the throne was sinking with it.

The King stepped forward again, fractured black veins spreading farther across the almost-human skin stretched over his body. “You waited too long,” he said softly.

Then the abyss moved.

Not the creatures beneath it. The mountain itself.

The entire throne chamber tilted hard enough to throw several corrupted wolves sideways into the darkness below while a deafening crack split directly beneath the throne platform. Red light exploded upward through the widening fracture as heat rolled violently through the chamber.

Baptiste stared toward the abyss in horror. “That’s not a collapse.”

Theron understood first, and Matt felt the realization strike through the bond a fraction of a second before he spoke.

“He’s pulling the throne chamber into the heart seal.”

The words landed like a death sentence.

The First King spread his arms as the throne platform continued sinking toward the widening fracture beneath it. The corrupted wolves surrounding the chamber dropped into submission despite the chaos tearing the mountain apart around them.

Matt looked toward the abyss, where the red glow had become almost blinding. Shapes moved far below inside the fracture, enormous and shifting beneath layers of black mineral that pulsed like exposed organs beneath the mountain.

“What happens if he succeeds?” Vale demanded.

Theron never looked away from the throne. “Once the chamber and the heart seal become one structure, the collapse will no longer bury him.”

Matt felt cold settle beneath his ribs. “It frees him.”

“Yes.”

“Tell me there’s still a plan,” Vale snapped.

Theron’s eyes shifted toward the detonator hanging from Baptiste’s vest.

“There is.”