Semua Bab LUNA'S CURSE; Her Three Messiahs: Bab 131 - Bab 140

Dax POVDawn came thin over the river, a wet light that made the world look like memory. We pushed off in a small boat that smelled of tar and moss, the oars biting the water with even, tired rhythm. Aya sat opposite me, braid falling forward. The lead-wrapped box lay between us, heavy and humming like a pulse.“Stop staring,” Aya said without turning.“I’m not,” I lied. The hum threaded under every sound, a second heartbeat that made the air feel crowded.Mist curled off the surface and swallowed distant banks. Villages drifted past like ghosts. Smoke rose thin from thatch and dogs barked far away, then nothing. The ledger’s notes had been sparse—an old place, a bend in the river, a sigil carved in stone. I thought about Keira, the scream that had sent me stumbling toward every scrap of wrongness I could find. That bruise of memory set the direction of my feet.“You dreamed,” Aya said suddenly.“What?” I braced a hand on the oar.“You muttered. Your hands were tight.”She’d watched m

Riven POVThe fire crackled low, spitting embers into the night air. The smell of wolf blood clung to the clearing, coppery and sharp, mixed with something fouler — a rot that didn’t belong in living things. I sat on a log with my sword across my knees, breathing heavy. Every rise of my chest scraped raw.The fight had ended minutes ago, but my body hadn’t stopped trembling. Weakness gnawed at me like the poison hadn’t finished its work. My lungs burned, my bitten arm throbbed, and yet rage burned hotter still.Vayrek crouched by one of the corpses. He pressed two fingers into the black blood pooling under its muzzle, then sniffed them. His marble eye caught the firelight, pale and unblinking.“This isn’t natural,” he said. “Not just wolf. Not just sickness. Something twisted them.”“I don’t need your lectures,” I muttered, though the truth in his words stung. The wolves’ eyes, the silver crawling under their skin — I had never seen beasts like that before.Vayrek ignored my tone. He

Riven’s POVThe camp spread out below me like a dark stain on the earth. I crouched on a rocky ridge, staring down at it. Rows of fires burned brightly, their orange light fighting the thick, smoky sky. Banners with Kaden’s cruel symbol waved above the tents, bold and proud. His men moved like ants in armor, their swords and spears catching the firelight. The air smelled of metal, sweat, and something rotten: a sour stench that reminded me of the poisoned wolves’ blood I’d fought before.My beast, a strong creature like a horse, moved under me, restless. It snorted, its hooves scraping the rocks. The poison in my lungs made every breath hurt, like knives in my chest, but my anger burned stronger than the pain. I put a hand on the beast’s sweaty neck to calm it and leaned forward to watch the camp closely.There were too many men to fight head-on. Too many weapons, too many eyes searching the dark. I wasn’t here to battle an army. I was here to kill Kaden, the leader: the snake’s head.

— Keira POVI couldn’t wash the smoke from my hands. No matter how many times I rubbed them against the rough cloth, the stink of burning pitch clung. Every time I caught the scent, my mind dragged me back to the torch flaring in the dark, bending toward me like a beast on a leash.The recruits hadn’t spoken of it directly. Not yet. But their eyes followed me differently now — cautious, awed, afraid. Fear spreads quicker than fire.Nylo padded at my heels as I crossed the camp. His thoughts brushed mine, a low thrum of warning. They whisper still. Gavin feeds it.I didn’t need his reminder. I could feel the eyes. Some curious, some hungry, some hostile. The story of what happened in the ambush had already twisted into half a dozen shapes. In one version I had called fire from the air itself. In another, I had cursed the guards and made them drop. In another, I had only stared and the torch obeyed.All of them were dangerous.At the bunks, Vera and Thea were waiting. The recruits had b

Keira POVThe first scream tore the air as the raiders dropped from the cliffs.I had seen ambushes before, but not like this. Their blades caught the light in strange colors, not the clean gleam of steel but a sheen that looked alive, silver crawling down the edges like veins. Their eyes burned the same way — fevered, unnatural.“Shields up!” I shouted, even though half of my recruits didn’t have shields. My voice cut through their panic. They clutched spears tighter, forming the crooked line we’d drilled.The first raider slammed into us, and the line buckled. Thea darted forward, her blade flashing. Vera swept an arrow loose, dropping another from the rocks. But there were too many.I caught a raider’s swing with my knife and felt the shock run up my arm. His strength wasn’t natural. He pressed me back, teeth bared in a snarl, until Nylo lunged low, sinking his small jaws into the raider’s calf. The man howled. I shoved upward, my knife sliding under his chin. He dropped, twitching,