Semua Bab MOON OF ASHES: Bab 11 - Bab 20

The archway shimmered like a dying star, its silver edges fraying into ash. Beyond it, dawn bled pale pink across the real world’s sky, so close Ava could almost smell pine and wet earth instead of the Hollow’s scorched-iron stench. Yet every step seemed to stretch the distance, the path a living, twisting vein of black soil.Silas didn’t slow. His fur was slick with sweat and ash, his massive body quivering under Ava’s weight. She clutched the dagger to her chest, knuckles white, her cut palm throbbing with every heartbeat. Behind them the monolith’s roar rose again — not a sound but a low-frequency vibration rattling their teeth, a predator’s growl big enough to fill the world.“Caleb!” Mara’s voice cracked. “It’s shrinking!”“I know!” The mage stumbled, lips chalk-white, eyes fever-bright. He dragged his knife through the ground, muttering a half-choked chant. Each rune flickered out almost as soon as it appeared. “It’s fighting me!”The Hollow surged one last trick: voices floated

The sun had barely dipped below the tree line when they started moving. The air turned cooler, sharper, full of resin and damp moss. Long shadows reached across the forest floor, swallowing their footprints as quickly as they made them.Lyra — that was what the older rogue had finally given as her name — led the way with sure, silent steps. Jude, the younger, followed close behind, his bow across his back but his fingers brushing the string every so often. Silas and Mara kept a few paces behind them, flanking Ava and Caleb. Rowan, as usual, brought up the rear with a muttered complaint about “midnight hikes.”Ava adjusted the strap of her pack, the dagger pressing like a hidden heartbeat against her thigh. Her palm ached beneath its bandage. The bond felt stronger at dusk; whispers stirred at the edge of her mind like wind through reeds.Silas caught her eye briefly. “Stay in the middle,” he murmured. “If anything happens, you drop and stay down. Understand?”She nodded, tucking a str

The Stone towered above them like the spine of a buried god. Up close, its spirals were not carvings but veins of light running through the rock, pulsing in time with some hidden heartbeat. The air was warmer here, heavy with the scent of lichen and iron. Every sound — their breathing, the scrape of boots — seemed muted, as if the monolith absorbed it.Caleb’s eyes shone. “It’s not just stone,” he murmured. “It’s alive.”Ava lifted her hand toward it, feeling the hum resonate with the mark on her palm. “It’s been waiting.”Silas stayed a step back, eyes flicking between the guardians and the Stone. “Don’t touch it yet,” he said quietly. “We don’t know what it does.”Rowan crouched to run his fingers over the ground. The pale stones underfoot were smooth and warm, etched with claw-shaped sigils. “Feels like a temple,” he whispered. “Creepy temple, but still.”Mara kept her bow half-raised. “Let’s not forget we’re still in the middle of nowhere surrounded by rock statues that might deci

The crack in the stone widened under their feet with a sound like splitting bone. Out of it rose a faint red glow, pulsing in time with some deep, subterranean heartbeat. New pawprints, darker than blood and shimmering faintly, led down a narrow stair carved into the rock. The air that breathed up from below was warm and metallic, tasting of iron and something older.No one moved for a moment. The echo of the wolves’ howl still clung to the chamber like a fading storm.Rowan wiped his palms on his trousers. “If this is hell, it’s very organised.”Mara shot him a look and tied a small leather charm to the tip of her bowstring — a habit she’d picked up before dangerous hunts. “This isn’t hell. It’s older.”Caleb crouched near the first step, tracing a symbol etched into the rock. “These marks aren’t decorative,” he murmured. “They’re warnings.”Lyra adjusted the straps of her knives. “Good to know. Let’s keep going anyway.”Silas glanced at Ava. “We don’t have to follow this.”“Yes, we

The chamber’s silver glow faded behind them as they stepped into the next tunnel. Ava walked at the front with the wolf limping beside her, its paws leaving faint shimmering tracks that quickly vanished. The air grew colder and damp, smelling of earth after rain. Somewhere deep inside the mountain a low, resonant rumble rose and fell, like the breathing of a giant.“Feels like we’re walking through a lung,” Lyra muttered.“Or a throat,” Mara said grimly, tightening her grip on her bow.Caleb ran his fingertips over the tunnel wall as they moved. “The carvings are changing again,” he murmured. “These aren’t instructions or bindings. They’re maps.”“Maps to what?” Silas asked without looking back.Caleb hesitated. “To a heart.”Ava glanced at him but didn’t speak. Her mark was still warm from the wolf’s touch. Every few steps the creature leaned lightly against her leg as if to steady itself; she could feel its heartbeat through the thin fabric of her pants, fast but evening out.They w