The Goddess Vessel의 모든 챕터: 챕터 91 - 챕터 97

VANESSA'S POVThe silence held for three days.It was a deep, watchful quiet that settled over the Eclipse territory. The eastern pass, under Kael's command, became a fortress of bristling, silent efficiency. The patrols moved like ghosts along the tree line, their senses stretched to the limit. The pack bond hummed with a low, steady frequency of readiness, a string pulled taut, waiting for the pluck.Yet, nothing happened.There were no more echoes. No more dead birds. No sign of movement from Crimson Sands. The shield remained still, a silent, sentient net holding its breath.The tension should have been unbearable. It should have frayed our nerves, worn us down with the constant, grinding anticipation of an attack that refused to come.But it didn't.A strange calm descended instead. It began in the heart of the pack, a quiet certainty that seeped into the soil and the stones of our homes. It was the calm that comes not from the absence of danger, but from the absolute certainty o

VANESSA'S POVThe stench of blood and ozone hung thick in the clearing. The two fallen mages were dark shapes on the ground, but my focus was on the moonstone. Its light was steady again, a clean, silver pulse that beat in time with my own heart. The corrupting touch was gone, scoured away.But the victory felt hollow. The eastern pass still screamed through the bond-the clashing of wills and weapons a distant, thunderous roar in my soul. And one mage had escaped, carrying the knowledge of our defense back to his masters.Adrien stood over the second mage's body, his chest heaving, his claws retracting. His green eyes glowed with a feral light in the darkness. "They adapt quickly." His voice was a low rasp. "They won't make the same mistake twice."Sage Nolan approached the cleansed stone, his staff's light dimming. "This was a test. A costly one for them, but a test nonetheless. They now know the Luna can purify their corruption. They will not send mere acolytes next time."A cold dr

VANESSA'S POVThe tide at the eastern pass was turning. We felt it through the bond before we saw it-the enemy's coordinated assault fracturing into panicked, isolated skirmishes. The feint had failed. The psychological attack had backfired, leaving Adrien not broken, but hardened into something more formidable than they could have imagined.We ran toward the sound of battle, a different kind of unit now. Adrien, a silent force of nature focused on a single goal. Sage Nolan, a bastion of ancient power. And me, my connection to the pack a live wire, channeling their rising confidence and feeding it back to them as strength.We crested the final ridge overlooking the pass. The scene below was chaos under the moonlight. Eclipse warriors, fighting with the disciplined fury Adrien had drilled into them, were pushing the invaders back. The invaders themselves were a mix of rough-clad rogues and a few disciplined soldiers in uniforms bearing a symbol I couldn't make out-a jagged sun. But the

VANESSA'S POVThe celebration eventually bled into exhaustion. The great hall emptied, warriors stumbling off to well-earned rest, their laughter fading into the quiet of the sleeping pack. Adrien, his arm draped over my shoulders, led me to our chambers. The pride and relief still radiated from him, a warm, drowsy hum through our bond. He believed the night was over. He believed we were safe.I let him believe it.I played my part until the very end, until his breathing evened out into the deep, steady rhythm of sleep beside me. Only then did I allow the mask to crumble. The silence of our room was deafening, a stark contrast to the raucous hall. The weight of my secret was a physical ache, a stone lodged beneath my ribs.I slipped from the bed, moving as silently as a ghost. The moonstone dagger on its stand pulsed gently, its light a cool blue in the darkness. I wrapped my fingers around the hilt, not to draw strength, but to feel its unwavering truth. It was a anchor in a world su