All Chapters of Soulbound: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The world erupted in noise and light. Avery barely had time to raise her weapon before the first wave of force hit, flinging her across the cathedral steps. Stone shattered under her weight, the impact knocking the breath from her lungs. She rolled, gasping, as shards of corrupted energy crackled around her like living lightning. The creature loomed in the fractured air — towering, fluid, shifting between form and formlessness. Its body shimmered like obsidian glass laced with veins of fire. Each movement left streaks of distortion that bent the world around it, as though reality itself recoiled from its presence. Kael’s voice tore through the comm link, calm despite the chaos. “Flank right! Keep it contained!” The strike team moved with practiced precision. Liora vanished into a blur of golden light, reappearing above the creature to strike from above, while Corren charged forward, his scythe igniting with crimson runes. The ground shook beneath his swings, each blow sparking

The Council chamber was built for intimidation. High ceilings arched into darkness, supported by columns carved from obsidian veined with silver. Ghostlights burned along the perimeter, their pale flames never flickering. The space smelled faintly of ozone and old incense — a blend of sanctity and threat. Avery stood at the center of the circular floor, surrounded by the thirteen Council seats that rose like a jagged crown. Her wrists itched where spectral restraints shimmered — not physical bindings, but a containment ward humming faintly against her skin. A reminder that she was no longer trusted. Kael stood a few steps behind her. Unlike the other reapers present, he didn’t kneel or bow. His armor was polished but plain, his scythe holstered across his back, his expression unreadable. The eldest of the Council, High Seer Varyn, leaned forward in his chair. His voice was as cold and clear as crystal. “Avery Dalen. Newly bound reaper of the Seventh Division. You led the strik

The hum didn’t stop this time. It started before dawn—if dawn even existed here—and never faded. It pulsed in waves, rattling the air like distant thunder. Avery pressed her palms to her ears, but it was inside her head now, resonating through bone instead of sound. Anchor. Will. Purpose. She tried to recite the mantra, but the words tangled, slipping through her grasp like smoke. Something inside her tethered chest was changing—stretching, fracturing. Each pulse seemed to pull her inward, as though her own heartbeat belonged to someone else. And then she realized it wasn’t just her heartbeat. It was two. One faster, panicked—hers. The other slower, deliberate—alien. The lights in the room flickered. Once. Twice. Then held steady, though too bright. The air shimmered, bending around her. “Hello?” she whispered, voice hoarse. “Is someone there?” The glass wall didn’t answer. But her reflection did. It blinked. Avery froze. Her reflection tilted its head, study

The light faded slowly, like the dying echo of a heartbeat. When Avery could see again, the corridor was gone. She stood in a vast expanse of mist and shadow — a place without horizon. The air shimmered faintly with drifting motes of light, each one flickering with memories too distant to make sense of. There was no sky, no ground, only the illusion of both. Avery turned in a slow circle. “Hello?” The word seemed to vanish before it reached open air. Somewhere far off, a bell tolled once. The sound was low and cracked, like something ancient remembering itself. A path formed at her feet — narrow, composed of fractured stone slabs that glowed faintly with runes she didn’t recognize. Each step she took echoed softly, as though the world were hollow beneath her. The silence pressed in until she thought she might go mad from it. Then, faintly, she heard it: breathing. She turned. Figures were emerging from the fog. At first she thought they were ghosts, but their forms

Avery’s first breath back was a scream. It tore through her lungs before she knew what air even was again — sharp, ragged, desperate. Hands caught her shoulders. “Avery—Avery, stop—” Kael’s voice cut through the ringing in her ears, commanding but shaking at the edges. Her vision flickered — the world swimming in and out of focus. The sanctum ceiling, the familiar glow of the wards, the faces of reapers circling like silent wraiths. The Council’s silver sigils pulsed faintly against the walls, as though the entire room were holding its breath. “Get—off me,” she gasped, shoving weakly against Kael’s chest. He released her instantly but didn’t move far. Avery’s fingers clawed against the cold stone beneath her as she tried to sit up. Her muscles screamed in protest; her mind screamed louder. Everything from the Hollow Between was still fresh — the mirrors, the hospital room, her body, him. The truth she couldn’t unsee. Her gaze snapped up to Kael. “You lied to me.”