Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 61 - Chapitre 70

The dense canopy of the forest swallowed us whole, plunging us into a green twilight. I dragged Elisse behind me, our flight a frantic, stumbling rush over gnarled roots and through clutching undergrowth. The baying of the hounds, which had been a terrifying constant, suddenly shifted. It grew more focused, more frenzied, but it was no longer following our trail. It was converging back toward the river, toward the sound of Kairi’s defiant roar.He had done it. He had drawn them away.The knowledge was a lance of pure, agonizing conflict. Gratitude warred with a fresh, searing fear for him. He was wounded, alone. How long could he hold them off?“Mama, the loud dogs… they’re going away?” Elisse panted, her small legs struggling to keep pace.“Yes, my love,” I gasped, pushing aside a low-hanging branch. “Someone… someone is helping us.”We ran until the sound of the hounds faded into a distant echo, and then into silence. My lungs were on fire, my legs trembling with exhaustion. Spottin

The sunlight outside the willow veil was shockingly bright, the sounds of the forest a deafening cacophony after the profound silence of the cavern. I blinked, disoriented, as Lyra moved ahead with her silent, fluid grace. We traveled for hours, following no path I could see, until the character of the woods began to change. The trees grew taller, their trunks gnarled and twisted into shapes that seemed almost purposeful. The air grew thick and still, and the birdsong died away, replaced by a low, pervasive hum that seemed to vibrate in my very bones.Lyra stopped at the edge of a grove where the trees grew so close together their branches intertwined, forming a dark, tangled archway. A sense of ancient, watchful power emanated from the place."This is the threshold of the Whispering Wood," Lyra said, her voice hushed. "I can go no further. The path within is for you alone." She pointed to a barely visible gap between two massive, moss-covered oaks. "Follow the pull. The Stone calls t

The journey to the Vaelen sanctuary was a tense, silent trek through a forest that now felt watchful and hostile. Every rustle of leaves, every distant birdcall, sent a jolt of fear through me. Kairi walked ahead, his senses stretched to their limit, while Kelra and two of his most trusted warriors flanked us, their eyes constantly scanning the shadows. The news of Gideon’s child-snatchers had turned the world into a gauntlet.When we finally reached the familiar, massive willow, its trailing branches like a curtain of green tears, my heart was pounding. Lyra emerged as if summoned, her luminous eyes taking in our grim party.“The forest is restless,” she said without preamble, her gaze settling on me. “The hunters circle closer. Their intent is a foul scent on the wind.”“We know,” Kairi said, his voice tight with a controlled urgency I knew was masking a deep, paternal fear. “We’re here for our daughter. We have to take her away from here.”Lyra studied him for a long moment, then g

The silence of the high mountain passes was a different creature from the hushed peace of the Vaelen cavern. This was a cold, thin-aired silence, broken only by the moan of the wind through jagged granite teeth and the crunch of our boots on scree. We had been climbing for days, a small, weary caravan: Kairi, myself, Elisse, Kelra, and the two remaining loyalists, Jax and Cora. The lush, threatening forests of Gideon’s domain were far below us now, replaced by a stark, breathtaking landscape of grey rock and endless sky. The Ironpeak Citadel was our beacon, its distant peaks gleaming like knives under the relentless sun, but each step toward it felt like a mile.The confrontation with Renejay had left its mark, deeper than any physical wound. Kairi’s shoulder was bound and healing, but a new tension lived in his eyes. He was no longer just a warrior or an Alpha; he was a father who had looked into the abyss of losing his child, and the abyss had stared back with Renejay’s triumphant e

The world stopped. The vast, blue sky, the clear path to the Citadel, the very air in my lungs—it all ceased to exist. There was only the dark, jagged mouth of the fissure and the echo of that single, pain-wracked word."Kairi!" My scream was raw, tearing from a place deeper than my soul. I scrambled to the edge, peering down into the impenetrable blackness. "Kairi, answer me!"Kelra was already moving, his face a mask of grim purpose. "Jax's rope! In my pack!" he barked, shrugging it off. We had kept the dead warrior's climbing rope, a final, morbid inheritance. Kelra fastened one end around a sturdy rock pinnacle, testing the knot with a brutal yank."I'm going down," he said, his voice leaving no room for argument. He looked at me, his eyes hard. "You stay with the child."He disappeared into the fissure, the rope going taut. Elisse was sobbing, clutching my legs, her small body wracked with tremors. I held her, my own body shaking, my eyes glued to that hole in the world. The minu