All Chapters of MOON OF ASHES: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

The whispered word reverberated through Ava’s skull, not as sound but as a pulse, a plea wrapped in power. Her knees weakened under the weight of it. She could feel the creature’s pain as if it were her own — the burn of silver, the suffocating pressure of the chains, the endless rhythm of the heart around them.Silas steadied her. “Ava—what did it do?”“It spoke,” she said. “Not out loud. In here.” She touched her temple. “It wants to be free.”Mara drew a sharp breath. “It’s bound for a reason. Nothing survives this long without a reason.”Caleb’s eyes flicked from the glowing runes to the creature’s flickering eyes. “Looks like a reason that’ll kill us if we pick wrong.”The wolves lowered themselves to the ground, a low tremor running through their bodies. One of them, the largest, crept forward and pressed its nose to the edge of the platform. Its tail wagged once — not submission, but recognition.Ava took another step closer. “It’s not a monster. It’s a piece of something — of

By the time the trees thinned, dusk had already bled into the sky. The last light of the sun slid through the canopy like molten copper, streaking the undergrowth and setting every spiderweb ablaze. The ruined chapel rose from the hollow ahead like the ribs of some long-dead beast, its stone walls canted and broken, its roof mostly gone. Only the bell tower still stood, cracked but defiant, leaning as though braced against the wind.Ava stopped at the tree line, heart hammering. She remembered this place from childhood — a picnic with her mother in the meadow nearby, a game of hide-and-seek among these very stones. Back then the chapel had been merely abandoned, a ghost of an old faith. Now it felt different. Not empty. Waiting.The child-wolf padded a few steps forward and sat down, tail curled around its paws. Its ears flattened; a low whine escaped its throat. The sound echoed strangely under the arching tower, like a note struck on a cracked bell.Silas came up beside Ava, hand on

The wind off the valley rose in a long, low sigh, as if the land itself were breathing. Mist shifted and parted, revealing rolling forest dotted with clearings that glimmered like pale coins under the moon. The points of light Ava had seen before weren’t stars at all but eyes—hundreds of them—moving in slow, deliberate arcs.Caleb crouched, scanning the valley. “That’s a whole host,” he murmured. “They’re not charging. They’re… waiting.”Silas rested a hand on the rock to steady himself. The dagger at his side throbbed with a measured rhythm, each pulse syncing with the lights below. “They can feel us. Not just me. All of us.”Mara swallowed hard. “We fought our way out of the keep for this? To climb right into a nest?”Ava kept her eyes on the valley, trying to read the shapes in the mist. The bond she had with the wolves brushed against her senses—thin threads tugging at the edge of her mind. These weren’t the broken, cursed creatures they’d been fighting. Their presence was older,

The fire had burned low, its flames shrinking to glowing embers that pulsed like a heartbeat in the dark. The clearing smelled of smoke, blood, and the cold dampness of the retreating mist. No one spoke at first. They were all listening—to the silence, to the echo of the Exile’s scream still lingering in their bones.Ava sat with the dagger across her knees, the runes dim now but warm to the touch, as if it remembered what had just happened. She could feel every wolf through the bond, dozens of hearts beating, breaths shallow but steady. Yet their threads felt different—stretched taut, brittle, as though the Exile’s touch had frayed something fundamental.Her chest hurt where the pain of those torn threads still lingered.Mara broke the silence. Her voice was rough, low, like she had swallowed gravel. “It wasn’t fighting to kill. It was fighting to take.”Ava looked up, startled. “Take what?”“The bond itself.” Mara’s eyes were rimmed red from smoke and fear, but they were steady. “It

The dagger burned like it was alive, searing Ava’s palm, yet she didn’t let go. The silver heart beneath her hand thrummed in answer, each pulse stronger than the last. The veins along the cavern walls blazed like molten rivers, flooding the chamber with brilliance so intense the shadows seemed to wither just from its touch.The Exile roared. Its body, vast and formless, lashed against the surge of light. Claws gouged trenches into the rock, red eyes glaring with raw hate. But it was more than hate. Ava felt its hunger, its terror, as if the very core of its being knew this place could unmake it.“Hold it back!” Ava screamed, her voice drowned by the silver’s song.The wolves obeyed instantly, their forms shimmering in the glow. They leapt, snarled, snapped, their bodies glowing faintly as the silver ran through their veins. They weren’t just fighting—they were conduits, each strike echoing with power drawn from the heart itself.Silas planted his feet, blade held two-handed. He swung