SONG OF THE CHAPTER: NOSEBLEED BY CONRAD RHEA'S POV: The stars are still in the sky when I wake up. My skin is wet, my cloak is heavy from the river's rage, and every part of me aches like I’ve been chewed up and spat out by the storm itself. My lungs sting from the water, and my magic feels brittle beneath my skin like glass that's been forced to bend. Lucien’s arms are wrapped around me, his breath warm against my neck, grounding. But there’s a tremor to his grip, something hesitant, like he doesn’t know if he still has the right to hold me. And maybe he doesn’t. I sit up slowly, eyes scanning the shadows of our temporary camp. Elen’s crouched beside Lyss, who lies bundled beneath spare cloaks, her breaths shallow. Nyrielle keeps watch, silent and flame-eyed. No one speaks. The silence is heavier than the river. When Lucien finally stirs, I feel the tension ripple through his body. He sits beside me but doesn’t touch me. He’s staring at Lyss. The guilt dripping off him
SONG OF THE CHAPTER: ALONE BY TIANA MAJOR9LUCIEN'S POV: The moment Rhea pulls her hand away from Lyss, I know something inside her has cracked. She doesn’t say it. She really doesn’t need to. It’s in the silence she wraps around herself like a cloak, in the way her eyes don’t meet mine when I touch her shoulder. It’s in the way her magic flickers like a candle at the end of a breath. "Rhea," I whisper, but she just nods once, as if the word isn’t her name anymore. As if it hurts. I watch her walk away. Each step stiff, like her bones have forgotten how to move gently.And for a second, all the thunder in me dims. Lyss groans beside me, pushing herself up on shaky elbows. "What… happened?" "You were almost burned alive by a fire creature from the crack between realms," I murmur, still staring after Rhea. "Rhea healed you. At a cost." Lyss swears under her breath. Then she sits up fully, her eyes glassy. "I didn’t mean to-" "I know," I say too quickly. I don’t w
SONG OF THE CHAPTER : DRIVER'S LICENSE BY OLIVIA RODRIGO.RHEA'S POV:~~~The sound hits me before the sight does. The sound of a soft laugh which sounds warm and unguarded, echoing just beyond the bend in the trees. My boots crunch softly against the earth as I slow, the air thick with the scent of pine and magic. Lucien’s laugh follows, low and surprised, and something in my chest pulls taut.I round the bend and stop. Lucien stands a few paces ahead, shoulders relaxed in a way I haven’t seen since before the war. Seris or rather, Lyss, as she told us she prefers, is beside him, her silver hair braided back, her eyes bright and full of something I can’t name. They're standing close. Not touching, but... close enough. She says something I can’t quite hear, and Lucien chuckles again. His head tilts back slightly, sunlight catching in his eyes. He looks lighter and younger.My hands curl at my sides. It’s ridiculous. I know it’s ridiculous. I just died. Or some
SONG OF THE CHAPTER: WAIT FOR YOU BY MELVITTO AND OXLADE.LUCIEN'S POV:****Seris stands beneath the canopy of silver-streaked trees, moonlight catching on her pale hair as if the sky itself had woven it. Her presence is quiet but commanding, the kind of stillness that makes the wind pause. I’m not sure what I expect when she finally speaks, but her voice is gentle and sound like it is velvet-wrapped steel. "I am Seris of the Moonblood," she says, her gaze fixed directly on me. "Descendant of Lunari, the lunar god who once walked with wolves."The words roll over me like a forgotten tide. Rhea stiffens beside me. Nyrielle, ever-watchful, narrows her eyes but says nothing. Seris continues, stepping forward, the edges of her cloak brushing the dusted grass. "I carry the blood of the first Moon-Blessed. My presence here is not accident, Stormwalker. It is the fulfillment of prophecy." The air grows colder, but not unpleasant. It's the kind of chill that reminds you you
CHAPTER 116: BEYOND THE VEILRHEA'S POV:SONG OF THE CHAPTER: WHEN THE WORLD IS ENDING BY JSAXE.~~~ The Guen Packhouse feels heavier now. Like every stone has memorized Rowan’s silence. I walk slowly through the corridor, my boots nearly silent against the rune-laced floor. Lucien trails behind me, his steps slower than usual, weighted by something he isn’t saying. Nyrielle waits outside the room, her expression unreadable, her wings clutched tightly to her sides. Ezra’s pacing just outside Rowan’s door. “We’ve tried everything,” he mutters, not looking at me. “He’s breathing, but he’s not... there. He is not waking up ” “I have to try,” I say quietly. My voice doesn’t ask permission, it never could, not when it comes to family. I at least have to try something... Right? Inside, Rowan looks... too still. His chest rises and falls in even beats, but there’s no light behind his eyelids, no spark of the man who once led entire warrooms with nothing but a look. This fe
LUCIEN'S POV:SONG OF THE CHAPTER: LOVE U BY HOWL I stand on the cliffs just outside the Guen stronghold, stormclouds coiled tightly above me, the sky too still to be trusted. The scent of rain lingers, but it hasn't fallen. It's as if the sky itself is holding its breath. Elen stands beside me, silver-blue hair dancing like a banner in the wind. He is watching the sky too, but his expression is calm... too calm. "You're not just a stormwalker," he says finally, voice quiet like thunder before the quake. "You're the turning key." I arch a brow. "You’ve said that before. Vaguely and mysteriously. Like a damn Windborne oracle. Care to be less poetic and more useful?" Elen turns his strange, cloud-swirled eyes to mine. "Fine. The prophecy calls you the Stormwalker; he who walks the edge of storms, who splits fate from ruin with a single breath. But that path doesn’t end with the Boundless."Oh, more trouble? Nice. The wind howls as he says it, like the very air is trying