Bound in Black Magic のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 5

The screams always started the same way—sharp, sudden, and tearing through the dark.I bolted upright, gasping for air as the stale smell of sweat, rust, and damp stone filled my lungs. Sunlight was already bleeding thinly through the high, iron-barred slits of the barracks window. Too late. Panic surged, cold and sharp, clawing at my throat. If the guards caught me sleeping past dawn, the punishment wouldn't just be a bruised face or a docked ration. It would be the branding iron—or worse, being hauled off to the dark pits from which no human ever returned.I scrambled off my thin, filthy pallet, my bare feet hitting the freezing stone floor, and bolted toward the heavy timber exit. But as I rushed into the main corridor, a heavy, suffocating pressure stopped me dead in my tracks.Crack.A searing, blinding sting exploded across my left cheek. The brutal impact whipped my head sideways, sending me crashing hard against the rough stone wall. My ears rang with a loud, high-pitched whin

Not a minute later, the hollow, echoing shouts of guards rang out down the stone corridor, followed by the harsh clanking of keys. The heavy iron door of the cell swung open, and the unmistakable, panicked voices of Eleanore and Maria pierced the gloom before they were roughly shoved inside, the door slamming shut behind them with a final, echoing thud.Tears instantly brimmed in my eyes as I scrambled across the damp stone floor toward them."I'm so sorry—I really am! Please forgive me," I sobbed, my words tumbling over one another in a frantic, broken rush. "I didn't mean to, I swear! I just wanted to help the little boy, I didn't know... Please, you have to forgive me," I gasped, my chest tightening as a terrifying wave of hyperventilation took hold, black spots dancing at the edges of my vision.Before panic could completely swallow me, warm, familiar arms wrapped tightly around my shaking shoulders. Maria pulled me into her chest, and a second later, Eleanore squeezed in beside u

Hearing the deafening roars and primitive cheers of the crowd outside sent a freezing shiver of terror straight down my spine as I awaited the fate waiting behind the heavy velvet curtains. My fingers unconsciously clawed at the skimpy, ice-blue lace of my outfit, frantically trying to tug it down, fooling myself into believing that a few more millimeters of fabric would magically offer protection from the hundreds of hungry eyes waiting for us.We didn't have to wait long.A sharp, booming voice crackled over the amphitheater's loudspeakers, the auctioneer beckoning the guards to bring out the first lot. Before we could even catch our breath, rough hands shoved us forward.The heavy curtains parted, and we were thrust out onto the blinding, elevated stage.Standing in front of a massive, tiered amphitheater packed with shifters was a waking nightmare. Hundreds of pair of eyes locked onto us, staring up at the platform not with pity, but with the cold, calculating appraisal of livesto