"Almost,"
The remaining corrupted wolves throw themselves at us in a final, desperate attack.
And then Roderic's ghost is there, interposing himself between them and us.
The other spirits join him, forming a barrier of translucent bodies.
"Finish it!" Roderic roars. "Free us!"
Kael and I pour everything we have into the spell.
The patterns are complete. The words reach their crescendo.
And the node explodes.
Not physically—magically.
A wave of pure energy that washes through the hall, through the entire pack house, through all of Silverpine.
The corrupted wolves collapse, the green light fading from their eyes.
The darkness dissipates like smoke.
And the ghosts—all of them—begin to dissolve.
"Thank you," Roderic says, his form already fading.
"Tell my pack—tell them I die
