All Chapters of Soulbound: Chapter 41 - Chapter 45

The Council Chamber had never felt small before. For eons, it had been a cathedral of eternity — marble white and shadow-black, suspended between realms, lit by the glow of the Vein itself. But now the light that filtered through the mirrored walls was dimmer, sickly, uncertain. The hum beneath the floor — the heartbeat of the world they’d built — had grown uneven. Edran stood at the center of the dais, one hand gripping his staff hard enough to crack the obsidian beneath it. “Reports confirm the current has slowed by eight percent. The Vein’s rhythm is faltering.” Murmurs rippled through the gathered reapers and lesser councilors — a sound of restrained panic. Aethren, standing at his left, glanced at the data-stream hovering above the soul mirror. The numbers pulsed faintly in pale blue script, symbols of the Vein’s flow translating into patterns of energy and decay. “That should be impossible,” he murmured. “The current has never wavered in recorded history.” Veyra’s voice dri

The Vein roared. Not in sound — sound couldn’t exist here — but in vibration, in the tremor of light against the edges of perception. The portal shimmered in the center of the chamber, a vortex of living energy that stretched through mirrored dimensions. Ryn Hale stood before it, helm tucked under her arm, her expression carved from focus. Behind her, the retrieval squad prepared in silence. Five of them — all reapers of rank, each bearing the sigil of the Council burned into their breastplates. Their scythes thrummed faintly with resonance, reacting to the pulse of the Vein ahead. Soreth’s voice crackled over the ether-channel. “Team Alpha, your objective is clear. Find Varyn and Delan. Secure the anchor point. Do not engage any entities beyond containment protocol. If instability exceeds threshold, abort immediately.” Ryn’s reply was steady. “Understood, Commander.” “May the current guide you.” The portal flared white — and they stepped through. --- Light folded. Space inv

The Vein pulsed around Avery like a living heartbeat, threads of memory and light stretching in every direction. She hovered at the center, tether coiling taut between her and Kael, every pulse resonating in her chest. “I feel it… responding,” she whispered. Her fingers traced patterns through the currents, and the light followed, bending, twisting, shaping itself to her intent. Small fragments of lost souls drifted past, drawn toward her command, freed from the endless swirl. Kael’s eyes never left her. “Slow,” he cautioned. “The Vein doesn’t just obey. It tests you. One wrong move and—” “I know,” Avery interrupted, eyes fixed on a strand of deep violet energy, darker than the rest. It wriggled and pulsed like a living serpent. “But this… this is what it wants me to see.” She extended her hand, letting the thread coil around her fingers. Visions flared in her mind: a human family torn apart by an unclaimed death, a soldier lost in a battle centuries ago, a reaper long vanished fr