All Chapters of LOST AND FOUND: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

The last of the daylight bled across the highlands, staining the broken monastery walls in shades of rust and crimson. Kaelen Draven moved through the ruins in silence, his boots crunching over loose stone, his senses sharpened by the shifting wind. The air smelled of damp earth and smoke, faint but fresh, the kind of trace that set every instinct on edge.He paused near a crumbling archway, his hand brushing the hilt of the blade strapped to his thigh. Shadows stretched long across the moss-slick floor, and the place carried the weight of old prayers long abandoned. He should have turned back toward the stronghold. Instead, something unseen tugged him deeper into the ruins.A whisper broke the stillness. Not words—more like the hushed sigh of breath. Kaelen froze, listening. There it was again, softer this time, followed by the scrape of fabric against stone.He followed the sound through a narrow gap in the collapsed wall. The sight stopped him cold.A young woman lay half-hidden am

Dawn slipped through the narrow slits of the stronghold walls, pale light spilling across cold stone. Serenya woke to silence, broken only by the creak of footsteps in the corridor outside. The air was sharp with the smell of smoke from the hearth.She pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders and stepped into the hall. Voices dropped the moment she appeared. A pair of women whispering by the stairwell froze, their eyes fixed on her gray gaze. One turned her head sharply, leading the other away with a stiff set to her shoulders.She kept walking, though her pulse hammered. Every turn of the corridor seemed to tighten with watchful stares. A boy carrying a bundle of kindling passed her, wide-eyed, nearly dropping the wood before scurrying down the steps.The whispers followed like a draft. Cursed. Omen. Why did he bring her here?Serenya’s throat tightened. She wanted to ask, to shout at them that she didn’t understand either. But her voice stayed locked in her chest.At the end

The courtyard lay hushed beneath the gray wash of morning. Smoke from last night’s fires clung to the stones, the faint scent of ash drifting between the timbered halls. Serenya lingered near the shadow of the old watchtower, away from the murmuring pack.Their voices carried whether she wished to hear or not.“She’s the reason wolves were sniffing around the village.”“Cursed, or worse. Did you see the mark?”“If Kaelen keeps her here, he’ll drag us all down.”The words pressed against her ribs until her chest ached. She drew her cloak tighter, though the chill was not in the air but in the stares that followed her whenever she crossed the yard. Her fingers trembled as they knotted in the fabric.Kaelen found her there, half-hidden against the wall. His boots struck hard on the flagstones, but his voice softened when he spoke.“You shouldn’t listen to them.”Serenya lifted her eyes, gray as storm clouds, and tried to summon a smile. It fell short. “It’s difficult not to when they spe