All Chapters of Eclipsed Hearts: The Chronicle of Shadows and Stars: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

The fire still lingered in Serenya’s veins. Every step out of the dragon’s cavern left her trembling as though her blood had turned molten, yet she forced herself to walk with her head high. Kaelen shadowed her, steady but watchful, as though one wrong step might cause her to collapse.Above the cliffs, dawn spilled across the sea, but its beauty carried no comfort. The horizon glowed red, and red always meant blood.Waiting at the ridge was Maelis Rowan. Her long white hair caught the wind like threads of frost, and her eyes—clouded with visions—looked past Serenya, past Kaelen, into places neither could follow. She leaned heavily on her staff, as though age had finally caught her all at once.“You carry the fire,” Maelis whispered. “The Pact burns in your heart.”Serenya nodded. “The dragon chose me.” She paused, the memory of Cyrion’s scream echoing in her mind. “But it nearly consumed us both.”Maelis smiled faintly, though her lips quivered. “That is the way of fire. It never giv

Ash still drifted in the air like black snow, settling over ruins that had once been Dawnspire’s proud walls. Serenya’s lungs burned with smoke and power as she struggled to hold herself aloft. Her new wings—woven of starlight and fire—shivered with exhaustion, dimming at the edges. Below, Thalric’s broken crown lay in shards, but the man himself rose from the ashes, alive, his form cloaked in a new and terrible shadow.Kaelen’s voice reached her, hoarse with disbelief. “You struck him down. He should be dead.”Serenya landed heavily, knees buckling on the scorched stone. She leaned on Starveil, the blade’s light guttering like a fading candle. “I thought I ended him. But something darker has claimed him now.”Thalric lifted his gaze, his eyes no longer human. They burned with a void-like hunger, as if the fire of the dragons had been consumed by something older, hungrier. “Do you see, little heiress?” His voice was no longer his alone—it echoed with another presence. “You’ve freed me

Smoke curled above the battlements of Dawnspire, a dark veil against the fragile dawn. Serenya stood in the courtyard where rebellion had cracked open like a storm. Bodies had been carried away, banners torn down, and the stone still bore streaks of blood that no amount of scrubbing could erase.But it wasn’t the ruin that weighed on her—it was the crown, gleaming on the council table before her.Not the true crown of her lineage, but a reforged piece of gold and steel, melted down from broken circlets of fallen houses, reshaped overnight by the blacksmiths who had sworn their loyalty. A symbol that her claim was no longer whispered but hammered into form, binding together fragments of loyalty.Kaelen Draven leaned on the far wall, arms crossed, watching her with unreadable eyes. His cloak was still damp with dew from the night’s shadows, his blade sheathed but restless, as though he expected danger to step through the doors at any moment.“Wear it,” he said quietly, his voice low as

The banners of Dawnspire fluttered in the midnight wind, their silvery threads rippling like captured moonlight. Serenya Vale stood at the high balcony, her crown newly set upon her brow, though its weight felt more like an oath than an ornament. Below, the city stirred with whispers—rumors of betrayal, of armies marching, of the heiress who wept yet rose again.Kaelen Draven lingered at her side, his shadow ever a step behind her light. “They will come,” he said quietly, as though his voice could weave certainty into the night. “The people will rally. They already look to you.”Serenya’s gaze remained fixed on the horizon, where the eastern hills glimmered faintly under the stars. Beyond them, Thalric Veynor’s forces gathered, bolstered now by Eloria Thorne’s betrayal. Twice their number. Twice their strength.Her chest tightened. I cannot defeat them alone.“Then we must not be alone,” she murmured.Kaelen turned to her, one dark brow arched. “You mean—”“Yes.” Serenya gripped the b

The tide had hardly calmed when Serenya Vale realized that silence was never safety. The Drowned Star pulsed in her grip, a living weight, its glow staining her skin in shimmering blue. But as dawn crept over the horizon, staining the sea red, the first cries of alarm rose from the shoreline.“Ships!” a soldier shouted, his voice ragged. “Crimson sails on the horizon!”Serenya lifted her gaze. Beyond the mist, a fleet advanced—rows upon rows of black hulls crowned with crimson flags. The banners of Thalric Veynor, the Duke who had sworn to claim her throne.Darian Crestfall swore under his breath, sword already drawn. “We’ve barely returned from the sea, and he’s here to bleed us dry.”Kaelen Draven stood at her other side, calm, unreadable. “He knew where to find us. He’s been watching.”Serenya’s stomach tightened. Only a handful of souls knew of their hidden harbor. The knowledge could not have slipped by accident. Someone had betrayed them.By midday, the camp was aflame with urge