LOGIN{Ragna’s POV}She turned.For a heartbeat, neither of us moved.The breeze drifted quietly across the little lake behind her, carrying strands of her impossibly long hair across her face. She brushed them away without ever taking her eyes off me. It was as though she feared that blinking would make me disappear.The disbelief in her expression slowly gave way to recognition.Then it shattered.“…Ragna?”She whispered my name as though it hurt to believe it.The small basket she had been carrying slipped from her fingers and struck the ground, fruit rolling unnoticed through the grass as she rushed toward me.Before I could think to react, she had wrapped both arms around me.And for a moment, I simply stood there. The warmth felt unfamiliar, not because I’d forgotten it.But because it had been too long.Then, slowly, I lifted my own arms and returned the embrace. That was all it took.She broke.A sob escaped her as she buried her face against my shoulder, her entire body trembling w
{Liam’s POV}~ Five days later ~ Five days had passed since the Blood Mothers descended upon the Reigns.Five days since the Palace became a slaughterhouse.Five days since the Kingdom learned that stories could bleed.The bodies had been buried. The broken walls had begun to rise again beneath the hands of masons. Blood had been scrubbed from courtyards until only faint stains remained between the cracks in the stone.Yet nothing had truly recovered.People still glanced over their shoulders when shadows shifted unexpectedly. Mothers still held their children a little tighter whenever distant footsteps echoed through the streets. Warriors still reached instinctively for their claws whenever someone shouted too loudly. Even laughter had become cautious, as though joy itself feared attracting another attack.The Blood Mothers had not returned. Not after that day. And the people believed it was because we had driven them away.At least…That was what my father was telling them.“Listen
{Ragna's POV}I was on my knees.And for a while, I wasn’t entirely certain whether I was breathing or merely remembering how.Every breath scraped through my chest like shattered glass while blood gathered at the corner of my mouth before dripping lazily onto the stone beneath me and joining the countless crimson pools that had already claimed the courtyard. Sweat stung the countless tears carved across my skin, mixing with blood until I could no longer tell where one ended and the other began.My clothes had become little more than strips of ruined fabric clinging stubbornly to my body. Claw marks crossed my arms, shoulders and stomach in uneven patterns, some still bleeding freely while others had already begun drying into dark, brittle streaks.Bruises had claimed whatever skin the cuts had spared, and so, every muscle in my body throbbed with the dull protest that followed being pushed far beyond its limits.Still… I was alive.Slowly, my eyes drifted across what remained of the
{Ragna’s POV}The Blood Mother’s claws hovered a breath away from the King’s chest.For a heartbeat, neither of us moved.Then I released her wrist.The sudden absence of resistance made her arm twitch instinctively, but instead of finishing the strike, she stopped. A low growl vibrated deep inside her chest as she stared at me, her monstrous frame tense, and every muscle coiled beneath scarred flesh as though trying to understand what had just happened.I didn’t return the stare.She wasn’t the reason I’d walked all the way back here.My attention settled on the man still sprawled beneath her.His eyes met mine, wide with confusion and something far less familiar on his face.Fear.Without ceremony, I caught the front of his blood-soaked royal vest and hauled him upright in a single motion. He stumbled toward me, still trying to recover his balance, while I held him there as though he weighed nothing.For a brief moment, I simply looked at him.This was the first time we’d ever stood
{Ragna’s POV}I walked.The broken lengths of chain dragged across the stone behind me with a harsh metallic scrape, their weight tugging faintly at my wrists. Somewhere beyond that sound came shouting— distressed, frightened voices and men cursing as they stumbled after me. But I never turned to see them. The pressure on the chains told me enough. Some of the warriors were still holding on.Let them.The courtyard disappeared behind me as I crossed into another corridor, my pace never changing.“Fucking stop her!”“Hold the chains!”“Bring her down!”Footsteps thundered from ahead.And then a palace warrior rushed into my path and reached for my shoulder, his claws spread wide as though he thought a single grip would halt me.Without breaking stride, I caught his face.My fingers closed around it almost absently and the next instant his skull struck the wall beside us with a crack that echoed through the corridor.His body slid to the floor.I kept walking.Another came from my left
{Ragna’s POV}Nobody moved.The entire Palace seemed to have forgotten how.The Commander General still hung against the stone wall, his lifeless body suspended grotesquely by the enormous bone that had pierced straight through his chest. Blood crept steadily down the pale masonry beneath him, each crimson trail lengthening in dreadful silence.No one looked away.Not the warriors.Not the servants.Not the terrified villagers who had fled behind the Palace walls believing those walls meant safety.Every gaze rested upon the lone figure standing beyond the village road.The Blood Mother.She neither snarled nor threatened. She simply stood there, her towering frame outlined by the dying afternoon light, her monstrous silhouette so unnaturally still that it unsettled me more than any roar could have.She looked… Patient.As though she’d already decided how this day would end and nothing could interfere. Around me, I could hear breathing.Nothing else.The Kingdom itself seemed to be hol
{Ragna’s POV}The Arena roared before I even stepped onto the sand.Another fight had just ended— two bodies separating, one dragged and one standing. Above it all, the King’s voice rang on cue.Deep and commanding.“Here is your victor.” He announced and the crowd roared, sounding unreal as usual.
{Ragna’s POV}For a moment, I thought about stepping inside.Not to shout. Not to cry. Not even to ask questions.Just… to stand there and let them see me. Let him see what he’d chosen… and let her see what she’d taken.She had mentioned earlier that she had seen me with my lowbond; Darian, outside
{Ragna’s POV}There were people who would be bothered about the aftermath of them losing and then there was me.I didn’t really care what came next. I just cared that I lost and cared enough to never want to permit it again. Meanwhile, I was dragged through the blood gate now, the sound cutting of
{Ragna’s POV}The Blood Gate opened with a long, dragging groan that sounded less like machinery and more like something being forced into agreement.Which felt appropriate, considering what it was about to witness.Light spilled into the tunnel first, sharp and the noise followed a heartbeat later







