All Chapters of Blood Moon Rising - The Lumenwild Trials: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

(Elara’s POV)Dawn came slow, heavy with mist and the smell of burned magic. The ruins of Lumenwild looked different in daylight, less like a battlefield, more like the skeleton of something ancient that had finally stopped screaming. But the air still crackled with leftover heat, the kind that clung to skin and made every breath feel charged.We packed in silence. Riven hummed under his breath, too bright for the hour, though even his jokes carried an edge. Ashen was all movement with precise, controlled, his cloak stirring dust as he walked the perimeter. Silas lingered near the broken archway, his expression unreadable.Kyren stood apart from all of us.He hadn’t spoken since the fight. His armor was scorched, clinging to the hard lines of his body like a second skin, his gloves torn where shadowfire had seared through the leather, revealing glimpses of scarred, inked flesh beneath. He watched the treeline with a stillness that wasn’t natural and like he was holding something back

(Elara’s POV)The air still hummed from the battle.The Ember Guard were gone with nothing left but scorched armor and the ghostly shimmer of ash where they’d stood. The world felt hollow, as if the Veil itself was holding its breath.Kyren staggered.The shadowfire under his skin pulsed violently, racing up his throat, staining the veins across his jaw black. His hand clutched his chest like he could hold the storm inside him, but his magic was leaking through with darkness in waves, curling against the ruined stone.“Kyren,” I whispered, stepping toward him.He flinched back, eyes flashing silver-blue. “Stay— back.”Riven moved first, blades drawn though his hands trembled. “He’s losing it.”Silas’s tone was clipped, urgent. “Ashen, hold the perimeter. If the Veil feels this surge, it’ll send more.”Ashen nodded and vanished into the mist, the faint shimmer of his magic spreading wide.Kyren’s body jerked as another pulse tore through him. “It—won’t—stop.”His voice was no longer hi

(Elara’s POV)The descent felt endless.The tunnel twisted downward through veins of obsidian rock, lit only by the faint glow of the runes pulsing along the walls. The deeper we went, the heavier the air became with thick with magic that pressed against my lungs and made my skin hum.Silas walked ahead, pale and silent, his hand skimming the wall as if guiding himself by the pulse of the magic buried in the stone. Riven trailed close behind, muttering curses between shallow breaths, while Ashen’s blade gleamed faintly at the rear, a silent promise of protection.Kyren walked beside me.Or what was left of him.His steps were slow, unsteady. Every few feet, his breath caught and with a flicker of pain across his face, quickly masked. The shadows still coiled faintly under his skin, moving like smoke trapped beneath glass.“How far?” I whispered.Silas didn’t look back. “Not far enough.”The air shifted a little colder now, carrying a faint metallic tang that made my throat ache. Ahead

(Elara’s POV)The fire burned low, nothing but embers now, blood-red against the ash. Riven had fallen silent hours ago, his laughter drained from him, replaced by the same wary stillness that had settled over all of us.No one trusted the quiet.Not after what we’d learned.Ashen sat across from me, half in shadow, his expression unreadable. The faint glow of his eyes caught the firelight like molten gold. Fae-born. The last son of the Veil Court. The enemy we’d been raised to hate. And now, one of us.Kyren stood, arms crossed, his power pulsing beneath his skin. “You should have told us,” he said at last, his voice low, barely human. “Before I almost killed you in the Hollow. Before you touched her.”The word her snapped through the clearing like a whip.Ashen’s gaze flicked to me, then away. “Would it have changed anything? You already saw me as a monster.”“I still do,” Kyren muttered.Riven let out a rough breath. “Can we not start the night with murder, please? My nerves are fr

(Kyren’s POV)Dawn broke cold and colorless.The forest was still when we left camp a little too still. No birds. No rustle of leaves. Only the soft crunch of boots through frost and the hum of magic that clung to the air like static.Elara walked ahead, hood drawn low, her hair catching the faint light like threads of silver fire. Ashen kept close beside her, his presence a constant reminder of everything I didn’t trust.The Fae-blooded bastard moved with a quiet grace that set my teeth on edge. Too calm. Too sure. Like the world itself bent around him.Silas trailed behind, murmuring wards under his breath. Riven brought up the rear, blades spinning loosely in his hands, whistling a tune that didn’t belong to this world.It should’ve felt like a team. It didn’t.It felt like the last march of condemned souls.The further north we went, the stranger the world became. The trees grew pale and brittle, bark cracked with veins of light that pulsed like open wounds. The air shimmered with