Chapter 26. The Weight of Half Truth

Pinakabagong kabanata

• The Outcast’s Fate   Chapter 35. Through the Shadow of Blood

  The name still echoed in her mind long after the forest faded.Ysolde.Samantha stirred, the dying embers casting long shadows across the tent’s walls. Outside, the wind whispered through the trees like distant voices arguing in a forgotten tongue. She blinked into the darkness, her pulse slow, heavy. The name didn’t feel foreign. It nestled deep inside her like a memory she hadn’t realized was hers.A soft rustling came from the other side of the tent. Ida was curled up under her worn cloak, her breathing steady. The man Tavian, he had finally told them, sat just outside by the fire, sharpening his blade with slow, patient strokes.It was late, and they had stopped when the moon had reached its peak. The forest trail had grown too narrow, too tangled with roots and thorns to push through safely. The hidden path that led to her mother’s sanctuary, Mira had said, was one that demanded both courage and caution. “Blood remembers, and so does the land,” she had warned be

• The Outcast’s Fate   Chapter 34. The man who Knows

  The morning came slowly, golden light filtering through the lace curtains like a blessing or a warning.Samantha stirred before anyone else, the name still echoing in her mind.Ysolde.It hadn’t left her since the dream. Not when she brushed her hair. Not when she walked barefoot across the wooden floor to find Mira steeping herbs. Not even when Edda silently handed her a bowl of porridge, both of them avoiding the elephant in the room.Mira finally broke the silence.“You heard her again, didn’t you?”Samantha looked up. “She called me… Ysolde. I’ve never heard that name before, but it felt like it belonged to me. Like I’ve always known it.”Mira exchanged a glance with Edda, one that felt too heavy to ignore. Samantha narrowed her eyes. “What is it? There’s something you haven’t told me. Again.”Edda hesitated, but Mira didn’t.“You’re right,” Mira said, voice even. “There is something. And I think it’s time you knew.” She turned to Edda. “Would

• The Outcast’s Fate   Chapter 33. The Vision of the First Wolf

  The forest shattered.The stars blinked out.Samantha was ripped from the vision like a bird torn from the sky. Her body slammed back into itself breathless, broken.She gasped, sitting upright in the small, firelit room, drenched in sweat, blood trickling from her nose. Her eyes were wide, unseeing at first, still lost in the silver woods. Her hands clawed at the floor, her voice caught in her throat.“No… no… NO!”Mira rushed to her side, grasping her shoulders. “Samantha, you’re safe. You’re here. You’re home.”But Samantha didn’t seem to hear. She clutched Mira’s shirt, sobbing, the weight of the shattered dream crushing down on her chest. “She was turning she was turning around! I almost saw her face!” Her voice cracked. “I almost saw my mother…”Mira held her close, heart aching. “You’ll see her again,” she said gently. “In time. These things don’t come all at once. The bloodline calls in pieces. Like waves. It’s never done with the first tide.”

• The Outcast’s Fate   Chapter 32. The Vision of the First Wolf

  The smoke swirled thick around Samantha, curling like tendrils of ancient memory, wrapping around her arms, her throat, her heart.She could no longer feel the ground beneath her. No more the warmth of Mira’s fire or the cool breeze whispering through Hollowbrook’s woods. Everything faded until there was only darkness.Then light.Silver and cold, it shimmered through a forest drenched in moonlight. The trees stood tall and still, their bark like stone, their branches unmoving. The air hummed with something older than time itself.Samantha stood barefoot on a bed of moss, her breath white in the night air. A figure stood ahead cloaked, motionless, with her back turned.The shape was unmistakable.The same figure from her dreams. The same cloak of fire and shadow. But this time… closer.Samantha’s heart pounded.“Are you Malia?” she called out, voice trembling. “Do you know me?”The figure didn’t move.Samantha stepped forward, fists clenched.

• The Outcast’s Fate   Chapter 31. The Bloodline Call

  The dream came again wilder this time.A silver forest bathed in moonlight. A woman cloaked in flame and shadow, eyes gleaming gold. Wolves circled Samantha, snarling, yet silent, as if waiting for her to speak. Behind them, the woman stood, unmoving, watching her with a gaze that tore through the veil of time.“Samantha,” the woman whispered in a voice both familiar and otherworldly. “Wake up.”Samantha jolted upright, drenched in sweat, the remnants of the dream clinging to her like thorns. Her breath came in shallow gasps. That face again. That same woman. That wolf. She was certain now it wasn’t just a nightmare. It was something else. A memory… or a call.She threw on her cloak and headed straight for Mira’s cottage.Mira was brewing herbs when Samantha burst in.“I need to talk to you. Please,” Samantha said, her voice shaking.Mira turned slowly. “Another dream?”Samantha nodded, gripping the edge of the table. “The same woman. The same wolves.

• The Outcast’s Fate   Chapter 30. The Howling Vision

  The night had fallen thick over Hollowbrook, heavy with silence and a breeze that carried secrets. Mira and Samantha walked along the narrow path, returning from the sick woman’s hut. Samantha still felt the weight of what she had seen the man’s desperation, the unknown illness. The air was cooler now, brushing her skin like a whisper.As they neared Mira’s hut, Samantha paused. Something shimmered in the moonlight by the edge of the woods.“I’ll catch up,” she said, her voice low but steady.Mira raised a brow. “Don’t go too far, child.”Samantha nodded and walked toward the trees. That was when she heard it.A single birdcall.But it wasn’t ordinary. It rang sharp and hollow, like an echo inside a metal chamber. It pierced through her bones and tugged her deeper into the woods. The trees whispered as she passed, their limbs creaking like old voices muttering secrets.She followed the sound, weaving between trees until the birdcall stopped abruptly.