All Chapters of Blood Moon Rising - The Lumenwild Trials: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

( Elara’s POV ) Willowmere should not have existed on any map.Not in the old star, charts.Not in the lunar archives Silas kept meticulously sorted.Not in the bloodline histories Riven memorized like scripture.And definitely not in the shadows Kyren could twist and read like ink.But the moment I said its name aloud, the ruins shifted.Not physically but magically.A subtle groan of old stone, like the entire place was inhaling.Ashen’s hand drifted to the small of my back, warm and steady. “The place is reacting. To you.”I swallowed. “To the Moon Pact.”“No,” he said softly. “To you.”The bond pulsed with a quiet agreement from all four.Kyren stepped into the center of the faded crescent carved into the floor. Shadows rippled outward at his feet. “Willowmere was the first seat of lunar magic.”Silas nodded, tracing his fingers over an etched crescent in the wall. “It disappeared after the first Pact fell. Some say by choice. Some say it was swallowed.”Riven sheathed his blade

The ruins didn’t change.At least… not in the way the physical world should.The broken archways remained collapsed. The shattered murals still lay in pieces across the ground. The pale vines still coiled up pillars carved with moon phases older than any kingdom.But the air had shifted.It pressed against my skin like a velvet palm. Heavy. Aware. Expectant.As if the ruins themselves knew I had returned.Kyren stayed close at my right, every step silent, his eyes flicking from shadow to shadow with a feline prowl that betrayed his tension. Riven walked on my left, one hand resting lightly on the hilt of his blade. Silas walked ahead, his posture deceptively relaxed. And Ashen followed behind me, gaze pinned to the old symbols etched into stone.The five of them formed a loose circle around me.A formation.A protective instinct none of them admitted aloud.The deeper we went, the thicker the magic became. Like fog you could taste.“The pulse is stronger here,” Silas murmured, tilting

( Kyren’s POV )She said it so quietly I almost thought I imagined it.“I have to choose one of you.”The words dropped into the ruins like a blade.Everything inside me went still.Not silent.Not numb.Just… still.Like the air before a wildfire ignites.Elara’s breath trembled out of her. Riven’s jaw flexed. Silas froze mid-movement, his hand still pressed to her shoulder. Ashen’s eyes narrowed, calculating and calm in that unnerving way of his.But me?My heart didn’t beat for a full second.Then it slammed back into motion hard enough to hurt.“No,” I said before I realized I’d spoken.Her gaze snapped to mine, open, frightened, already apologizing.I hated that look.I hated that she thought she had to wear it with us.“Elara,” I said, stepping closer, “you don’t have to—”“She does,” Ashen cut in, voice steady but low. “The Pact—”“Don’t,” I growled, rounding on him. “Not now.”He lifted his chin. “You think denying it will change the truth?”Riven stepped between us before I c

(Elara’s POV)The world snapped back into place with a violent jolt.The stone bridge shuddered beneath us, ancient magic tearing at its seams like the mountain itself was trying to spit us out. Dust rained from above, choking the air, rattling my teeth. Kyren still held my arm, jaw clenched, wings half-spread to shield me from the worst of the falling debris.Riven was already in front of us, blades drawn, eyes burning blood-red against the dim.Silas....He wasn’t moving.Not forward.Not toward the exit.He stood backward, toward the collapsing edge, shoulders trembling under the weight of shadows writhing over his skin like living ink.“Silas?” I shouted over the roar.His head tilted just enough for me to see one eye, void-black, and wrong.“A barrier,” he rasped. “They sealed us in. Only a siphon can break it.”Kyren cursed. “Don’t do something—”“Stupid?” Silas gave a broken laugh. “Too late.”The shadows exploded outward.I felt it through the bond before I understood it, pai

Elara’s POVThe moon shouldn’t have been red yet.That was the first thing that felt wrong.I stood at the edge of the eastern balcony, stone cold beneath my bare feet, watching the night sky as if it might blink and correct itself. The Blood Moon was still three nights away, every chart, every prophecy, every stitched scrap of celestial record agreed on that point. And yet a faint rusting glow had begun to leach into the lunar edge, like a bruise forming under pale skin.Too early.Behind me, the stronghold breathed quietly, magic humming through its bones. The wards were stable, for now. But I felt the tension running beneath them, like a muscle held too tight for too long.“You’re going to wear a hole in the stone if you keep pacing,” Riven said mildly.I turned. He leaned against the column near the doorway, arms folded, shadows clinging to him like they had something to hide. His blades were strapped at his back even though we were supposed to be in a “period of rest.” Riven didn