All Chapters of Bloodbound Trials : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The villagers always locked their doors before the crimson moon rose.No one questioned the ritual anymore.Children were taught from the moment they could speak that when the moon bled across the night sky, no one should wander beyond the village walls. Travelers who ignored the warning rarely returned, and those who did came back with haunted eyes and stories that no one dared repeat.Ariana never believed those tales.She had grown up hearing whispers of monsters, curses, and forgotten kingdoms, but she trusted what she could see, not what frightened people imagined in the dark.Tonight, however, the air felt different.An uneasy silence settled over the village of Black Hollow as the last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the mountains. Merchants abandoned their stalls earlier than usual. Mothers hurried their children indoors. Even the blacksmith extinguished the great furnace before sunset.By the time the first crimson glow painted the heavens, every window had been shuttered

The tunnel swallowed every trace of light.Ariana stopped running.The only sound she could hear was her own breathing, uneven and desperate after fleeing through the narrow passage. Behind her, the collapse had sealed the entrance completely.Kael was gone.The masked warriors were gone.She was alone.Then the crimson eyes blinked.They floated in the darkness several paces ahead, unmoving and unblinking, watching her every breath.Ariana's fingers instinctively closed around the silver pendant hanging from her neck.The metal was warm.Almost comforting."Who is there?" she whispered.The eyes did not answer.Instead, a low growl echoed through the tunnel.It was not the roar of a beast preparing to attack.It sounded more like a warning.Slowly, the pendant began to glow.Soft silver light spilled into the darkness, revealing rough stone walls covered with ancient carvings. The light continued to spread until it reached the source of the glowing eyes.Ariana froze.Standing before

The roar shook the Gate of Memory.It rolled across the endless white sky like thunder, splintering the marble beneath Ariana's feet. Cracks spread through the platform until they reached the edge of the crimson door.The seal was gone.Only fragments of glowing crystal remained where the ancient barrier had once stood.The woman in white lowered her staff.A faint smile appeared on her face."So the legends did not lie."Orion stepped in front of Ariana."You have doomed us all.""I have liberated what should never have been imprisoned.""No."Orion's voice hardened."You have awakened what even kings feared."The shadows pouring through the broken sky gathered around the shattered doorway.They twisted together like smoke before slowly taking shape.First came two enormous horns.Then a head covered in black scales that shimmered with streaks of crimson.Golden eyes opened.They were ancient.Wise.And unbearably sad.The creature emerged with impossible grace despite its size. Its

The forest erupted into chaos.Arrows rained through the towering pines with terrifying precision, embedding themselves into tree trunks and the damp earth where Ariana had stood only moments before.Kael did not hesitate.He pulled Ariana behind a thick oak as another volley cut through the darkness.Wood splintered above their heads."The Order of Ash never misses twice," he muttered.Lysandra had already disappeared into the trees.Only the faint rustle of branches revealed her position as she moved with astonishing speed.A sharp whistle echoed through the night.Nyx answered with a thunderous howl.Almost immediately, shadows emerged from every direction.Not enemies.Wolves.Gray wolves.Black wolves.Even wolves with pale silver fur that gleamed beneath the twin moons.Within seconds, more than twenty surrounded the clearing.They did not attack.They formed a protective circle around Ariana.The masked hunters paused.One lowered his bow.Another whispered nervously."The Moo

The trembling beneath Ariana's feet did not stop. It grew stronger. The wooden houses of the Moonfang settlement shuddered as bowls, tools, and lanterns toppled from shelves. Dust drifted from the branches of the Great Tree, coating the ground like pale ash. Then everything became still. No one moved. No one spoke. Every eye turned toward the northern mountains. The final howl lingered in the air long after the unseen creature had fallen silent. Nyx lowered himself until his chest nearly touched the earth. The giant wolf did not appear frightened. He appeared reverent. Lysandra stared into the distance. "I have never heard that voice before." Elara tightened her grip on her silver staff. "Few living souls have." Kael looked toward the old woman. "The Alpha." She nodded. "The first guardian of the Moonfang bloodline." "I thought it was only a legend." "So did I." Ariana unconsciously closed her fingers around the tiny silver key hidden in her palm. The old woman w