All Chapters of Bloodbound: The legacy of Serelai : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

The small, cleansed circle of earth felt like the only safe ground left in the world, and the silver scar on the soil pulsed softly, a fragile heartbeat in the dark woods. Liora held the glowing bowl of poultice, its light bright but delicate against the flickering torch flames between the trees.Ash stood just ahead of her, his body tense and ready to protect, he heard them long before he saw them, not a rush, but a steady, determined walk of lawmen coming to give judgment.Finn came out first, his face full of confusion and fear, but the man behind him made Ash’s blood run cold: Gregor, village elder, Ash’s old commander and Kael’s father. His face wasn’t angry, but hard and cold, full of cold judgment, behind him marched a group of village watchmen, carrying heavy nets and clubs for capturing, not killing. This wasn’t a mob, it was an arrest.Gregor’s sharp eyes scanned them all, and they stopped on Ash, standing close to Liora as if guarding her with more than duty, and Gregor’s j

The forest turned into a nightmare of blood-tinted shadows and snapping branches. They ran, breathing hard, the howls coming from every side, they weren’t just chased; they were being driven toward the mill.Ash ran beside Liora, his side already burning from the cut the wolf-soldier gave him and he could feel blood soaking through his tunic. Every step sent sharp pain through his ribs, but he gritted his teeth and focused on Liora’s determined face, he wouldn’t fall behind.A huge crimson-furred wolf, the one from the ridge, the soldier burst from the trees ahead, blocking their path. It stood on its hind legs, intelligent, hateful eyes locking on Liora.Ash didn’t slow down; instead, he slammed into the beast, his knife flashing silver. The wolf roared and swiped a clawed paw that tore through leather and flesh. Ash grunted from the pain but drove his knife deep into its shoulder.“Ash!” Liora cried out.The wolf-soldier threw Ash aside and turned to her, drawn by her voice and the

The world didn’t end quietly, it ended with Ash’s roar, a raw, animal sound from a man watching his future disappear in front of him. He forgot the spear in his shoulder, the fire in his ribs, everything except Liora falling, the broken wood in her back a cruel mark of Gregor’s madness.Gregor stood over her, his face twisted with triumph. “Darkness always wins! It claims what it’s owed!”A red haze blurred Ash’s sight, he charged, not with a knife, but with his broken body, tackling Gregor down. His hands grabbed the elder’s throat, driven by one pure instinct: to erase the source of pain.Strong arms pulled him back. Ronan and Finn held him, Ronan’s voice fierce in his ear. “Not like this, Ash! He’s not worth your soul! She is!”Ash fought, breath ragged. He looked at Liora. Elara and Kael were already there, turning her gently, her skin was pale like old snow.“The poultice,” Kael begged, voice cracking. He scraped the last silver from the bowl and pressed it on the wound and it gl

The quiet that settled over the town was fragile, like a thin sheet of ice on dark water and for three days, the mill stayed silent. The villagers went about their work with careful hands, their eyes darting away from Liora, they weren’t hostile, but they watched her like a sleeping wolf, grateful it was calm, but scared it might wake.The new journal stayed warm in Liora’s hands; she had expected more pictures and stories to come, but the pages after the connected-heart symbol were blank. It was full, for now.Finn brought the next problem, he had taken to patrolling the woods, not as a hunter of monsters, but as a scout. He came back at noon on the fourth day, looking pale.“It’s the blight,” he said, drinking quickly from a bucket by the well. “But it’s not just killing the crops. It’s... moving.”Ash straightened up, stopping from sharpening his knife. “Moving? How?”“Like a tide,” Finn said, eyes wide. “The dead patch around the mill is spreading, slowly but surely and not just g

The silence in the Heartspring cave felt like an open wound and the mountain’s hum was weak and strained, far from its old strength. The air still smelled sharp like broken magic and crushed crystal.Liora’s world was the space between her hands and Ash’s face; his skin was pale, but his chest rising and falling steadily was the only real thing left. Elara was already working, her hands practical, not glowing, checking his broken arm. “It’s broken, but clean,” she said quietly, trying to hide her fear. “Ronan, I need a splint. Now.”The sickening crack they heard hadn’t killed him. Ash’s eyes, filled with pain, found hers. His good hand twitched, and she took it, fingers threading with his. Their anchor.“The cost…” Ronan’s voice was rough, his face grim as he held the journal, he looked from the empty pages to Liora. “It’s all gone. Everything.” Liora didn’t look. She’d felt the knowledge ripped from her, like a part of her was torn away. The maps, the cures, the stories, all lost