This is really fun! In case you plan on working on this more (and haven't already considered these) then here's some things that I think would be great additions:
-Like in the novel, the creatures take on the power of the land they are entering, so for example, if a beast has three squares around it(one to either side and one behind), when moving forward to attack, it would take on the power that it would have as if it were stationed on that tile, so in this case, it would only be strengthened by the tile behind it if it were moving into direct enemy territory. This would give white a better chance because black essentially guarantees two shrines off the bat.
-Make the dots that show where the power of a creature come from stay just a little bit longer, no matter who's turn it is.
-This one is also from the novel, but it's also a little more weird, but the idea is to allow for multiple pieces to fight a monster on a turn if they are directly next to it. This would make sending the Tyrant directly into battle a more risky strategy, and would require more careful planning
The game is already pretty great, so I don't really have a lot of ideas to give on how to make it better. I'm looking forward to showing this to more of my friends and playing this with them a little more! Thank you!