Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 40

The stars dimmed as the Moon God vanished into the night, his silver form dissolving into mist. The forest was eerily quiet, the air heavy with the residue of battle. Kael’s weight sagged against me, his breathing ragged, but alive. His eyes searched mine, wild and haunted. “Elara… is it over?” I wanted to say yes. I wanted to believe the crack sealed, the creature banished, the nightmare done. But I couldn’t lie. Not to him. Not to myself. “No,” I whispered. “It’s just beginning.” The earth beneath us pulsed, as if the void had left a heartbeat in its wake. A low thrum, faint but steady. The crack was closed, but not healed. The scar ran deep. Kael shivered, and I helped him to his feet. His strength was returning, but too slowly. “Come on,” I said, glancing at the horizon where dawn threatened to break. “We need to get out of here before something else crawls through.” We stumbled through the forest, every shadow seeming to breathe, every rustle setting my nerves o

The earth groaned beneath us, the crack splitting wider with a thunderous roar. Stones shattered, roots snapped, and the wind howled like the ghosts of a thousand fallen wolves. Kael clutched the creature tighter. His chest heaved, his arms trembling from the effort of holding onto both it and his sanity. “Elara…” His voice was ragged, wild with disbelief. “It’s not a baby.” I didn’t need him to tell me that. The thing in his arms blinked up at him with those void-dark eyes, so deep I could swear they pulled at the edges of my soul. Its skin, pale as bone, shimmered like moonlight on black water. And that smile — gods, that smile — stretched too wide for any child’s face, thin and sharp and knowing. “Put it down,” I said, my voice tight, cold. “Kael — put it down. Now.” But he couldn’t move. His body locked, like the creature’s magic rooted him to the spot. “I can’t,” he gritted. “It’s in my head. It’s—” The creature’s tiny hand brushed Kael’s cheek. And I felt it then —

The wind whipped around me, carrying the bitter scent of ash and old magic. Damon’s boots crunched across the dead plain as he closed the distance between us, his smile sharp as broken glass. “This isn’t possible,” I breathed, every nerve in my body on fire. “You shouldn’t be here.” He spread his arms, mockery in every inch of him. “And yet, here I am. You fell into the Scar, Elara. My world. My rules.” I backed away, searching the horizon for any sign of Kael or Ilara. Nothing but endless dusk and jagged rocks. “What did you do to them?” I demanded. Damon’s eyes gleamed, hungry and cold. “They’re where they belong. Apart from you.” I forced calm into my voice. “You can’t keep me here.” “Oh, but I can.” He stepped closer, and the ground itself seemed to bend beneath his feet, shadows pooling around him. “I’ve been waiting for this. For you. The Scar feeds on power, Elara. And your power? It was always meant for me.” I clenched my fists, feeling the Luna magic surge in

Light swallowed us whole. It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t warm. It was fierce — a storm of white fire and searing wind, tearing the Scar apart, ripping Damon’s false kingdom to pieces. I couldn’t see Kael or Ilara anymore. Couldn’t see anything but the ruin we’d caused. And then — silence. I woke to cold rain. It pelted my face, soaking my hair, stinging the cuts on my arms. My body ached like I’d been trampled by a herd of wolves. I opened my eyes slowly, blinking against the downpour. The Scar was gone. Above me stretched a sky split by lightning, the storm raging across what was left of the battlefield. Around me — ruin. The land was broken, cratered, smoking. The magic we’d unleashed had left scars of its own on the world. But I was alive. “Elara!” The voice made my heart leap. Kael. I turned, pushing myself up on shaking arms. He was there — bloodied, limping, but whole. His eyes found mine, and for a moment, nothing else mattered. Not the storm. Not the ruin. Jus

The first torch hit the ground near our feet, sending sparks leaping into the night air. The hunters came at us fast, driven by fear and fury, their faces twisted with blame. Kael stepped forward, blade raised, his voice like thunder. “Stand down. We are not your enemy!” But no one listened. The storm above cracked, casting the ruined city in jagged flashes of light. The hunters spread out, circling us, their torches a ring of fire that hemmed us in. Ilara hissed under her breath. “If they don’t kill us, the beasts will. We need to move—now.” “I know,” I whispered, my mind racing. “But if we strike first, we’ll become exactly what they think we are.” Kael glanced at me, eyes hard. “Then we hold the line. But the second those shadows join the fray—” “We fight.” I nodded. A hunter lunged. Kael deflected the blade with ease, knocking the man to the ground. “Leave. Go home,” Kael growled. But they wouldn’t. Couldn’t. The storm had broken something in them, just like