MasukHi my loves đ Iâm taking a short holiday break from posting to rest, recharge, and spend time with family. Thank you so much for all the support, comments, and love youâve shown this storyâit truly means everything to me.Iâll be back with new chapters after the holidays. Until then, please take care of yourselves and enjoy the season â¨
Kael felt her fear before he felt the walls.It came through the bond like a blade dragged across his ribsâsharp, panicked, contained. Not fading. Not gone.Caged.His vision burned silver as the Covenant corridor split open beneath his magic.Stone cracked.Runes screamed.The dampening field flared onceâthen shattered as shadow surged outward from him, devouring the light like it had been waiting to do exactly this.Kael didnât slow.Didnât think.Didnât breathe.Every step forward was fueled by one singular truth:They took her.A pair of Covenant sentries appeared aheadâwhite armor, silver inlays, weapons already raised.âStand down!â one shouted. âYou are entering restrictedââKael lifted his hand.Shadow erupted.The hallway imploded.When the dust cleared, both men were embedded in the walls, unconscious, their weapons twisted into useless scrap.Kael walked through the wreckage without looking back.The bond pulled him leftâhard.He followed.Pain lanced through his chest as a
Aria woke to cold.Not the kind that bit or burned, but the kind that muted everythingâsound, sensation, even thought.Her cheek rested against stone, smooth like glass and humming faintly under her skin.A pulse.A beat.Not hers.She exhaled shakily as memory slammed back:The forest.Kaelâs roar.Hands dragging her.Light splitting around her body.The bond screamingâthen nothing.Aria pushed herself upright.Chains rattled.She froze.Her wrists were wrapped in metal cuffs engraved with thin lines of silverânot pretty, not ornamental.Restraints designed to dull magic, to sever her connection to anything outside this room.Outside of him.Her chest tightened.The bond feltâwrong.Faint.Muted.Like someone had wrapped thick hands around her heart and was slowly squeezing.She pressed a fist to her sternum.âKaelâŚâ she whispered.The room didnât echo.Of course it didnât.This place wasnât built to let anything escape.A voice drifted through the quiet like silk sliding over sk
The rain didnât ease. It only grew heavierâfat droplets pounding the leaves in a steady, unbroken roar that drowned out almost everything. Almost. Because Aria still heard it. That soft hum. That pulse. That whisper of power moving through the air like a blade dragged across silk. Kael must have felt it too. His shadows coiled instinctively around her, tightening like armor as they pushed deeper into the forest. Every step they took away from the awakened shard seemed only to sharpen the presence stalking them. Varuun walked several paces behind, unusually silent, eyes glowing faintly beneath his hood. âWeâre being followed,â Aria whispered. Kael didnât look back. âNo. Sheâs not following.â His jaw clenched. âSheâs already here.â The clearing ahead of them split open with light. Not white. Not gold. But the cold, luminous blue of crackled moonstone. Ariaâs breath stilled. Kaelâs grip on her waist hardened. Varuun sighed. âWell. Sheâs in a dramatic mood today.â A fig
The forest trembled in the aftermath. Rain pelted the leaves in relentless sheets, and the wind carried the faint, eerie hum of the fully awakened shard. Kaelâs shadowed aura flared around him like a living armor, coiling protectively around Aria even as they tried to catch their breath. âSelene knows,â Aria whispered, voice tight. âSheâll come.â Kaelâs jaw clenched, fists curling at his sides. His eyes, molten with gold and ember, scanned the trembling forest. âThen we wonât be waiting for her.â A flicker of movement caught Ariaâs eye. The shard, now fully active, pulsed like a heartbeat in the clearing, golden veins tracing the cracks that had spread across its surface. Threads of energy spiraled outward, stretching into the trees, as if testing the boundaries of the world around it. Varuun stepped closer, his cloak drenched, hood falling back to reveal an expression both grim and fascinated. âItâs alive⌠and itâs hungry. That little pulse you just anchored gave it⌠direction.â
Kael slammed into the Echo with enough force to crack the ground beneath them, shadow bursting outward like a shockwave. But the creatureâwearing Ariaâs stolen faceâabsorbed the entire impact without so much as blinking. It didnât stumble. It didnât reel. It simply placed a shimmering hand on Kaelâs chest and whispered: âYou are in my way.â Kael choked on his own breath as if invisible fingers tightened around his lungs. Shadows tore free from his body without his command, siphoned out of him like smoke sucked into a vacuum. âKael!â Aria screamed. He staggered backward, knees hitting the dirt, chest heaving. His vision blurred. Varuun let out a long exhale. âWell, that answers one question. Itâs already connected to her.â Aria spun toward him. âConnected how?!â He gestured lazily at the Echo. âThat thing is feeding off your bond with Kael. Like a parasite drawing power straight from the source.â Ariaâs blood froze. Kael pushed himself upright, dark magic sparking viole







