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Chapter 30 – The Price of a Bargain
Last Updated:
2025-03-11 01:52:30
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Elara stumbled forward, each step heavier than the last. The walls of the cavern seemed to close in around her, the air thick with unseen power. The pull in her chest grew stronger, an invisible chain dragging her toward something she did not understand—something she refused to surrender to.She gritted her teeth, fighting against the weight pressing on her body. I need to get out. Now.The faint glow of the cavern entrance was just ahead, flickering like a distant beacon. But before she could reach it, a cold gust of air swept through the tunnel, snuffing out the remaining torches.Darkness swallowed her whole.And then—a whisper.Low. Hollow. Not the Wraith King. Something else.“Mine.”Elara spun, her heart hammering. The shadows along the walls writhed and twisted, shifting like living smoke.A shape emerged—a figure cloaked in darkness, its eyes gleaming like silver fire. It wasn’t the Wraith King, but it carried the same unnatural presence, the same suffocating aura of power.So
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Elara’s lungs burned as she pushed forward, the uneven forest floor testing her every step. Her body screamed for rest, but she knew stopping wasn’t an option. Not now.She had to keep moving.Her escape from the Wraith King’s grasp had cost her—draining her magic and leaving a dull, throbbing ache behind. But worse than that was the lingering sensation of his presence wrapped around her like a phantom chain.Every time she closed her eyes, she could feel him. Watching. Waiting.The bond had changed.She wasn’t sure how, but something had shifted in those brief moments their magic had clashed. He was closer now, as if a wall between them had crumbled. The very thought sent ice crawling through her veins.She could not let him catch her again.A rustling in the trees sent her heart slamming into her ribs. Elara skidded to a stop, her breath coming fast.Silence.Then—a footstep.Elara spun, her magic sparking instinctively at her fingertips. The shadows between the trees shifted, parti
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Elara and Vesper moved swiftly through the forest, the ground damp beneath their hurried steps. The trees stretched high above them, their twisted branches clawing at the sky like skeletal fingers. Though the Wraith King was gone, his presence clung to the air, thick as smoke.Elara could still feel him. The bond pulsed beneath her skin, faint but undeniable.Vesper had been silent since they left the clearing. His usual sharp focus was now edged with something else—frustration.Finally, he spoke.“We need to break this connection before it’s too late.” His voice was low, tense. “You felt what he did to you back there. Next time, you might not have a choice.”Elara clenched her fists. “I don’t want this. But I don’t know how to fight it.”Vesper halted, turning to face her. His golden eyes burned with intensity. “Then we find someone who does.”Elara frowned. “Who?”He hesitated. Then, reluctantly, he said, “The Oracle.”The name alone sent a chill through her.“The Oracle?” she repea
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Elara’s world narrowed to the figure standing before her.A face from the past. A face that should have been buried beneath the weight of time and death.Lucian.Her breath caught. The sharp planes of his face were the same, his storm-gray eyes still held that quiet intensity—but something had changed. There was a coldness in his gaze, a dangerous stillness in the way he held himself.Vesper moved instinctively, stepping in front of her. His presence was a wall, a shield between her and the specter from her past.“Elara,” Lucian’s voice was smoother than she remembered, his lips curling slightly. “It’s been a long time.”Too long.Memories crashed into her—nights spent strategizing, whispered promises of loyalty, a mission gone terribly wrong… and blood. So much blood.Elara swallowed hard. “You’re supposed to be dead.”Lucian chuckled, stepping further into the chamber. “And yet, here I am. Surprised?”Her hands clenched at her sides, nails digging into her palms to keep herself grou
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Elara’s pulse hammered in her ears as Lucian’s words settled over her like a heavy fog.Her mother—her own mother—had done this to her. Bound her fate to Vesper’s, crafted a prophecy that condemned them both. And now, Lucian was offering her a way out.But could she trust him?Vesper’s hand tightened around the hilt of his dagger, his jaw locked in a silent show of restraint. “You expect us to believe this without proof?” His voice was dangerously low, laced with quiet fury. “You disappear for years and now you return, acting as if you hold all the answers?”Lucian’s lips curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “I don’t expect you to believe me.” His gaze flickered to Elara, unreadable. “But I know Elara wants the truth. And I know where to find it.”Elara swallowed the lump rising in her throat. “Where?”Lucian hesitated for a moment, then said, “The Ruins of Valmere.”A chill raced down her spine.The name alone was enough to send fear coursing through her veins. Valmere—on
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The night air was thick with tension as Elara, Vesper, and Lucian rode toward Valmere. The moon hung low, casting long shadows across the abandoned road, and the wind carried whispers of the past—ghosts of a city long turned to ash.Elara tightened her grip on the reins of her horse, her pulse steady but alert. Every hoofbeat against the dirt felt like a countdown to something inevitable.“You’re sure this path is safe?” she asked Lucian, breaking the silence.Lucian, riding just ahead of her, glanced over his shoulder with a smirk. “Of course not.”Vesper let out a sharp breath, muttering a curse under his breath. “Fantastic.”Elara ignored them both. She focused on the road ahead—jagged rock formations, twisted trees, and the faint, eerie glow of Valmere in the distance. The ruined city loomed on the horizon like a graveyard of forgotten history.She could feel it even from here.The weight of something unnatural.A shiver ran down her spine.“The city is cursed,” Vesper said, his v
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Elara’s POVThe air crackled with power.Elara stood frozen as the wraiths remained kneeling, their hollow eyes fixed on her. The weight of their expectation pressed against her chest, stealing the breath from her lungs.“Take the throne, Elara.”“You were always meant to rule.”Their whispers twisted through her mind, wrapping around her like an invisible chain. The longer she stood there, the more the magic of Valmere seeped into her bones.The throne—her mother’s throne—loomed before her, a beacon of darkness and power. A throne carved from obsidian, veins of molten gold pulsing like a heartbeat beneath its surface. It was alive. It was waiting.A memory surfaced.Her mother’s voice, soft yet commanding.“A ruler is not chosen, Elara. A ruler is made.”Elara took a shaky breath.This was a trap. She knew it.And yet…When she took a step forward, the wraiths exhaled, as if breathing for the first time in centuries.The power in the room shifted.Something deep inside her responded.
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The whisper slithered through her mind like a serpent, its voice cold and ancient.“You are mine now.”Elara’s body froze. A sharp, unnatural chill spread from her chest to her fingertips, coiling around her spine. She could still feel the lingering presence of the throne’s magic inside her—a dark pulse, steady and insistent, like a second heartbeat.She tried to breathe through it, but the weight of it crushed her lungs.“Elara?” Vesper’s voice cut through the haze.She blinked hard, her vision sharpening just enough to see him crouched in front of her. His grip on her shoulders was firm, grounding. His gaze burned with an intensity that sent warmth through her frozen veins.“You’re shaking,” he said, his voice low. “What’s wrong?”She wasn’t sure how to answer.If she told him the truth—that the throne’s magic hadn’t died with the city but had latched onto her—he would never let it go.Neither would Lucian.She glanced up to find the rebel prince watching her too, suspicion flickeri
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The fall was endless.Elara’s scream was stolen by the wind as she plunged through the rupture of the shattered gate. Light and shadow twisted around her like serpents, clawing at her skin, whispering half-formed truths.Then—silence.She landed hard on black marble, the air knocked from her lungs.Above her, the gate had sealed.Around her… nothing.No stars, no sky. Just a vast, endless hall of mirrors, each one reflecting a different version of her: Elara with burning eyes, Elara on a throne of bones, Elara drenched in blood. Her own fear stared back at her from every angle.Footsteps echoed.She whirled, heart racing.Vesper emerged from the darkness, blood trickling from his temple, eyes wild. “You shouldn’t have done that alone.”“I had to,” she whispered. “If I didn’t—”Kael’s voice cut through the stillness. “She would’ve died either way.”He stepped into view, dragging Dain behind him. Dain’s lip was bleeding, but he was conscious—and furious.“What is this place?” Elara aske
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The sun had yet to rise when they reached the mouth of the forgotten passage—a jagged, rune-cracked staircase descending beneath the roots of the Obsidian Mountains. The air was thick with magic, the kind that pulsed beneath your skin and whispered madness in your ear. Elara felt it the moment they crossed the threshold.“This was built by the First Blood,” Dain murmured, running his fingers along the stone etched with forgotten sigils. “The original rulers—before the kingdom, before the laws.”“Before the prophecy,” Vesper added, his eyes narrowed, calculating. “Which means what’s hidden down there isn’t just powerful—it’s older than all of us.”Kael had said nothing for the past hour. He didn’t trust any of them—not Dain with his convenient knowledge, not Vesper with his secrets, and lately, not even himself.The path narrowed as they descended, their torches casting twitching shadows on the walls. Elara walked at the front, not because they let her, but because she had to. The pull
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The sky ripped open.A thunderous roar echoed over the palace as golden lightning split the heavens, crackling through the enchanted dome that had protected the capital for centuries. Panic surged in the city below—citizens screamed, magic flared, and guards rushed to defend the walls. But inside the throne room, silence reigned, thick and paralyzing.Elara stared at the glowing parchment in her hand, its light pulsing like a heartbeat—her heartbeat.Kael stepped in front of her instinctively. “What did you do?”“I didn’t choose,” she whispered, stunned.Vesper’s voice sliced through the room like a blade. “You did. The moment your blood touched the truth, the magic reacted. You’ve awakened the weapon buried in the kingdom.”Dain unsheathed his blade. “Then this is war.”“No,” Elara snapped, raising her hand. “This isn’t war. Not yet. But it will be… if we don’t control what’s coming.”The parchment’s light dimmed suddenly, curling into ash between her fingers. But the rumble above di
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The air cracked like thunder as Elara stepped into the ancient ruins—the site the prophecy had led her to. Dain’s warning still echoed in her ears, but Kael’s hand was firm on her arm, his presence grounding her in the moment.She thought she’d felt everything a heart could endure. She thought she’d buried Vesper Moretti with the ruins of their forbidden love.But then came the shadow.Not magic. Not monster.Him.Clad in black, eyes like dark steel, Vesper Moretti emerged from the archway as though the kingdom itself had carved him from vengeance. His face was sharper, more dangerous—but the hunger in his eyes when they found hers was unmistakable.“Elara,” he said, voice low and lethal. “I told you once—nothing keeps me from what’s mine.”Her breath caught. The world tilted.Kael stepped in front of her. “You were dead.”Vesper didn’t blink. “You only kill what you understand. And you never understood me.”Then his eyes cut to Dain, who stood frozen with guilt carved into his expres
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Kael carried Elara through the crumbling halls of the ruined citadel, her body limp in his arms. Ash rained from the vaulted ceiling like gray snow. The vault behind them had collapsed entirely, burying Dain—and the Ardent Mirror—beneath ancient stone and cursed light.Her skin was cold.Too cold.“Elara,” he whispered, brushing her hair back, smudged with soot and blood. “Don’t do this to me.”But her eyes remained shut. Her pulse fluttered weakly at her neck, like a thread unraveling.They had no time. He had no options.Except one.Kael turned toward the east chamber—the forbidden crypt beneath the old sanctum. No one went there. Not even Elara.Not even Dain.But Kael wasn’t just a warrior. He was raised by men who trafficked in blood oaths, trained by shadows who knew how to barter with things older than gods.He descended the narrow staircase two steps at a time, breath ragged, Elara cradled tightly in his arms.At the bottom stood a rusted iron gate carved with sigils no human
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Kael’s hand was still wrapped around Elara’s wrist as he pulled her through the dim corridor of the fortress, every stride radiating tension. The weight of silence between them was louder than screams.“Let go of me,” Elara hissed, twisting her arm in vain. Her pulse was pounding—equal parts fury and something far more dangerous.Kael turned, his face shadowed in the torchlight, eyes burning gold. “You walked into the lion’s den alone. Again. You think Dain would have spared you this time?”She yanked her hand free. “I didn’t need you to save me.”He laughed coldly. “No, you needed someone to die for you, apparently.”The air thinned between them. Elara stepped back, but he followed—always one step closer than she wanted, or maybe exactly where she needed him.“Why do you always do this?” she whispered, voice trembling.“Do what?” His voice dipped low, rough, intimate. “Follow you into danger? Break rules for you? Want you so badly it makes me lose my mind?”“You don’t want me,” she s
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Kael’s grip tightened painfully around Elara’s wrist, forcing her to wince.“Kael,” she said softly, “it’s me. It’s Elara. Let go.”But his eyes — gods, his eyes — they weren’t just wounded anymore.There was a storm swirling inside them, a violent force pressing against his soul, clawing to the surface.“I can feel them,” he rasped, voice cracking. “Inside me. Twisting.”Dain stepped forward cautiously, blade drawn but low.“He’s been tainted. The ritual—you weren’t the only one marked, Elara.”Elara knelt closer, ignoring the way Kael’s body shuddered under her touch.“Fight it,” she whispered. “Stay with me.”Kael’s fingers spasmed, finally releasing her wrist.He sagged against the wall, breathing in shallow, broken gasps.“I tried,” he muttered. “Tried to keep them out. But they promised me…” His voice broke. “They promised they’d spare you.”Elara’s stomach twisted violently.“Who?” she demanded. “Who promised?”But Kael’s head slumped forward, and for a terrifying moment, she t
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The first rays of dawn barely kissed the horizon when Elara stood at the ancient altar hidden deep within the cliffs.The place reeked of old magic, of broken promises and shattered souls. Dark vines twisted through the stone, pulsing faintly as if remembering every curse ever whispered here.Dain arrived silently, his cloak trailing ash behind him. He carried a small obsidian blade — the kind crafted not for battle, but for sacrifice.“This is your last chance to turn back,” he said, voice low.Elara shook her head, her fingers curling into fists. “Kael wouldn’t give up on me. I won’t give up on him.”A brief flicker of emotion crossed Dain’s face — admiration, maybe grief. Then he drew a circle of salt around the altar and motioned for her to kneel.The ritual began with a chant — low, guttural words that made the very air vibrate. Shadows lengthened unnaturally, coiling around them like curious serpents.Elara pressed the blade to her palm without hesitation. Her blood spilled onto
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The world was not the same.Elara staggered to her feet, coughing through the settling dust. Dain pulled her up roughly, his face bleeding from a cut above his brow, eyes burning with rage—and something worse. Fear.The ruins around them groaned and cracked. Whatever Kael had awakened, it was spreading like a sickness, bleeding through stone and earth alike. The once-familiar walls now felt hostile, every breath of air tasting of metal and ruin.“We have to move,” Dain barked, dragging her forward.“But Kael—” Elara tried to turn back toward the shattered altar, the spot where he had disappeared.Dain shook her hard enough to rattle her teeth. “He made his choice. Now we have to survive it.”Behind them, the ground caved in completely, swallowing the last remnants of the altar in a deafening roar. Dark vines slithered from the abyss, twisting and coiling like living nightmares.Elara didn’t realize she was crying until she tasted the salt on her lips.Kael.She had seen him—truly seen
