บททั้งหมดของ To Kill Alpha Roderic: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

Chapter 31: Strange Sensation

- RODERIC"Clear out, Lucas," I muttered, my voice scraping out from behind the leather mask like dry iron on gravel."Chief, the scouts from the eastern perimeter just came in with the report..." Lucas started, stepping up onto the timber porch behind my chair, his hand resting on the heavy doorframe."I don't give a damn about the perimeter," I snapped, slinging the double doors open so hard the iron hinges shrieked in protest. "Tell the elders to handle the rations. Tell Edith to double-check the transport hitches. I don't want anyone knocking on this door for the next three days until we roll out for the lower passes."Lucas froze in the doorway, his eyes darting from my hands, gripping the iron rims so hard the leather of my gloves was tearing, down to the thick coat of grey rock dust covering my shoulders. "Chief, what happened up on the ridge? Is everything okay?""I said clear out!"I turned my head just enough to catch him in the corner of my vision, letting the full, suffuse

อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 32: Gone

- RAVENA"He's not in the main hall, kid. I told you that an hour ago," Edith said, not even turning around as she tossed a heavy leather saddlebag over the wooden fence rail."I'm just asking," I rasped, my voice coming out low and hoarse, while I leaned against the hitching post. I dug the toe of my boot into a patch of slush, trying real hard to look like I didn't care. "The transport wagon leaves at sunup tomorrow. He’s supposed to sign off on the ration distribution for the lower passes, isn't he? Or are we just stealing thirty bags of dried oats and hoping nobody notices?"Edith stopped her work, her sharp eyes flicking sideways to glare at me. She wiped a hand across her forehead, leaving a dark smudge of axle grease across her brow."The oats are signed for," she muttered, snapping a rusty iron buckle into place. "And the Chief does what he wants. He doesn't owe you or anyone else in this dump a daily schedule.""He hasn't left his cabin in three days, Edith," I pushed, keepin

อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 33: Back

- RAVENA"He's out," Rayna whispered, shoving my arm so hard I nearly dropped my wooden mess bowl right into the mud.I didn't need her to tell me. The temperature in the main yard had already plummeted three degrees, or maybe it spiked five. It was hard to tell with him.Chief Rod was sitting at the edge of the high porch, his massive fur cloak draped over his broad shoulders like a storm cloud. He wasn't barking orders or inspecting the timber fences or checking the perimeter line. He just sat in that reinforced chair of his, staring straight out over the frost-covered caldera, as cold and unreadable as a slab of black marble."Told you he wasn't dead," Rayna muttered, taking a massive bite out of a hard biscuit. "Looks like hell, though."He did. Even with the deep hood pulled low and that thick leather mask covering half his face, we could tell three days locked in a dark cabin hadn't done him any favors. The air around him practically vibrated with a tight, explosive energy, lik

อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 34: Leaving at Dawn

- RAVENASomeone was shaking my shoulder like they were trying to rattle my teeth loose. I slowly opened my eyes, still trapped in the fog of sleep. Edith's voice reached me before her face came into focus. "Up, kid. Sun's not even thinking about rising yet," her rough voice cut through the freezing darkness of the barracks.I sat up fast, my hand instantly flying under the straw pillow for the small iron wedge I kept hidden there. The stitches over my eye pulled sharply, a tiny reminder that I was still put together with river-mint thread and luck."I'm awake," I rasped, slipping into the deep, rough voice I'd created for Zavier before my brain could fully process the cold. "Is the wagon ready?""It’s loaded. Get your boots on." Edith tossed a thick pair of wool socks right onto my face.Five minutes later, I hauled my heavy travel pack over my shoulder and pushed through the door into the bitter, black gloom of the pre-dawn freeze. The mountain air hit my lungs like drinking needl

อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 35: Iron Gates of Erevale Academy

- RAVENAAs if he'd heard me thinking it, two armed academy guards stepped up to the rear of the lead wagon. Without a word, they reached down and hauled Chief Rod right out of his wheelchair, lifting his massive, fur-draped frame straight up the metal ramp. They didn't place him on the metal benches with the rest of us strays. They paraded him straight down the narrow center aisle, pushing past the rows of stunned, staring kids, and ushered him directly through the frosted glass doors of the front VIP cabin.The dark iron doors began sliding shut with a heavy, pressurized hiss.I leaned forward into the aisle, my jaw clenched as I watched. Through the tinted glass of the forward bulkhead, I caught one split-second view of him sitting in a plush leather seat.Then, right before the helicopter lifted off into the grey clouds, Chief Rod reached up with his gloved hand. He unclasped the top iron buckle of his dark leather mask and pulled the heavy strap down just two inches to catch a

อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 36: Room 404

- RAVENAThe door to Room 404 looked like it had survived a siege. It was heavy oak, bound in dark iron straps, with the brass numbers lopsided and scratched to hell.I shoved my iron key into the lock, gave it a hard jiggle, and kicked the base of the door with my boot until the bolt finally gave way with a loud clack."It catches if you don't kick it," a soft voice called out from the far corner.I snapped my head up, my hand instantly dropping to my right wrist where Edith's push-dagger was strapped under my sleeve.A tall guy with messy brown hair and thick glass spectacles was sitting on a low wooden cot, carefully crushing dried green leaves into a stone mortar. He wore a pale blue tunic, the healer-in-training uniform, and had roll after roll of clean linen bandages stacked neatly on his desk."I'm Ashton," he said, setting down his pestle and offering a small, nervous smile. "You must be Zavier. The borderland transfer.""Yeah," I rasped quietly. "Zavier."I didn't offer a han

อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 37: The Trial

- RAVENA"They're going to put you in the lower bracket," Ashton muttered, wrapping a thick roll of linen tape tightly around his knuckles. "Just take a hit, drop fast, and stay in the bronze tier. Less attention that way."I didn't answer. I was too busy staring down into the subterranean arena.Erevale's combat pit wasn't a standard training mat. It was a massive, circular depression dug thirty feet down into solid granite, lined with jagged shale and dark packed dirt. Heavy iron grates covered the high balconies where the faculty stood watching, clutching their clipboards and grading rubrics like hawks."I'm fine in bronze," I rasped, rolling my shoulders under my thin charcoal tunic to check the tightness of my chest wraps. "Less work for me.""Listen up, fresh blood!" the combat instructor barked, his voice echoing loudly off the stone walls. Instructor Vance was built like a brick wall with legs, his arms crossed over a chest the size of a barrel. "Today is a physical baseline a

อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 38: The Sanctuary Secret

- RAVENA"If you're out past two in the morning, the sentry wards don't just log your ID," Ashton murmured, not looking up from his pestle as he ground down another batch of dried root. "They trigger a thermal ping straight to Thessaly’s office. You get caught, they throw you in the lower cells for forty-eight hours."I adjusted the iron wedge tucked into my forearm wrap, pulling my dark tunic tight over my shoulders. "Then I guess I won't get caught.""Zave, come on," he sighed, dropping the pestle with a soft clatter. "She’s already looking at you weird because of what happened to Kael’s knee. You go creeping into the administration wing tonight, and you’re basically handing her the rope to hang you with.""She’s setting up an audit, Ashton," I rasped, leaning against the doorframe and checking the corridor through the narrow crack. "If she digs through my intake paperwork, I’m done. I just need five minutes with the registry ledger to smudge a couple of dates.""You're crazy," he m

อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 39: Forced Proximity

- RAVENAThe heavy iron tumblers at the archive gate ground together with a harsh, high-pitched screech that made my teeth ache. Heavy boots were already clicking fast against the flagstones outside, heading straight for our row.My heart thudded wildly in my chest.I shoved the ledger back onto the shelf, looking around in panic. The aisle was a dead end. No vents, no secondary hatches, just thirty feet of solid granite walls and heavy oak shelves. If Professor Thessaly’s guards walked around that corner and caught "Zavier" in the restricted vaults at two in the morning, I wouldn't just be expelled; they’d lock me in the lower pits until my fake background check came back completely shredded.I instinctively looked at Roderic, my eyes wide under my dark hood, silently begging him not to hand me over.His face didn't change, but his eyes narrowed slightly as he sensed my panic. He pointed a single, gloved finger toward the narrow gap behind his massive mahogany desk in the corner."

อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 40: Suncrest Ambush

- RAVENACleaning the training armory at nine at night was pure hell. The whole place smelled of rust, sweat, and cheap metal polish.I was on my knees, scrubbing a nasty streak of dried grease off the stone floor, when the heavy oak doors behind me slammed shut with a loud THUD.The iron bar dropped into place on the outside.I didn't even jump. I just let out a long sigh, tossing my soaked rag back into the wooden bucket, and slowly stood up. I didn't need to look to know who it was."Thought you could just trip me in front of the whole school and walk away, huh?"Konner was standing near the weapon racks, flanked by two giant Suncrest lackeys built like brick outhouses. His left knee was tightly wrapped in blue bandages from my little stunt in the arena two days ago, and his face was still bright red with humiliation."Konner," I rasped, dropping my shoulders into my usual slouch and wiping my hands on my dark tunic. "Armory’s closed. If you're looking for extra polish, you gotta t

อ่านเพิ่มเติม

1 2 3 4 5 6

สแกนรหัสเพื่ออ่านบนแอป