Bloodlight: Refrain Novels & Stories

| {I ripped the heart out of your sacrifice} {Unholy Communion body of Christ} {I ate the heart I ate the head I ate the miracle} {Like a praying mantis without the prayer} {With only prey} {I called you a hoax in a bottle} {when I vomited you out again} {A jinx, hex, haxan, vexation} {So why am I the one with phantom pain?} | The Ravens amass into one giant monster with a proboscis and begins drilling through. | {Tears of blood, tears of blood} {Will the sadness ever end?} {Tears of blood, tears of blood}

Commander Cassian shouted from somewhere below. I looked at Lyra. She nodded. We raised our blades together. Silver. Gold. Moonlight. The escaping souls formed a circle around us. The Heart of the Moon Kingdom answered from far beyond the Citadel. A beam of light shot across the sky and struck the two blades. The power was overwhelming. Lyra cried out. I grabbed her hand. "Don't let go!" "I won't!" The Blood Flame emerged from the ruins, wounded but still alive. "You think this changes anything?"

It answered with overwhelming, destructive power. Pure, brilliant moonlight burst outward from Seraphina's body, spreading across the bloody battlefield like a massive, rising tide. Every wounded Blackthorn ally instantly felt their broken bones knit together and their strength return tenfold. Conversely, every shadow beast within the light screamed in agony as the radiant aura burned through their corrupted flesh, dissolving them into black mist. Even Nyxar was forced to raise his arm, shielding his eyes from the glare. "No..." Nyxar whispered, a trace of genuine fear entering his tone. "The First Luna's Heart..."

Mario continued, “Blood is thicker than water. Always remember... Leone blood runs in your vein. Even if our family is not smooth, don’t spit on your family name.” Before she could reply, he hung up. The phone beeped. The line went dead. Amara lowered the phone slowly, her eyes still fixed on the mirror. Her face was blank, but then something shifted. A small smile crept up. It widened... and widened... until she burst into laughter. The sound echoed through the room. Sharp, strange laughter..like someone who finally realized the game they were in. She flipped her hair back and kept staring at herself. “What about you make use of this moment wisely,” she muttered under her breath.

**“Sanguis antiquus, voco te…” (*Ancient blood, I call you…*) **“Per lunam et per ignem…”** (*By moon and by fire…*) **“Solve sigillum dormientis animae!”** (*Unseal the sleeping soul!*) My body convulsed. Veins burned. Bones groaned. The night screamed with me. She pressed her bleeding hand to my mouth again. “Repeat after me.” I tasted lightning. And obeyed. “Sanguis antiquus… voco te…”

Gareth chuckled. "He attacked you? Ryan would never attack anyone," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Then you knew him," Seraphine muttered. Gareth frowned. He raised his hand and signaled for everyone to stop. "We'll take a break, while I take the Queen to a corner where she can relieve herself." Without saying anything else, he started walking, and Seraphine followed him from behind. When they had put some distance between them and the others, he turned to her. But Seraphine spun him around and kicked him behind his knee, forcing him to kneel. Without her claws out, she held him by the throat. "If you move, I will kill you. If you try to twist or avoid any of my questions, I'll

The rain outside struck the stained glass like nails. Amara went first. She drew the blade across her palm, slow and unflinching, and let her blood drip onto her name. The letters hissed, shimmered, and turned black as coal. Then I did the same. Our blood met in the bowl, swirled like smoke caught underwater. Dante began to read the incantation. Each word carved itself into the air like molten light. When the final phrase fell — “So it is written, so it shall bind.” — the room pulsed once. Then silence.

I muttered aloud in her voice, “the world will bend, and the Alpha will burn.” Through the window, crimson light from the Blood Moon glinted across the pack halls. Magnus stirred uneasily in his sleep. Zane lingered in shadows, eyes wide but uncertain. Seraphine’s presence beside me promised devastation. I smiled, letting the darkness sink into the halls. The game begins.

I felt her power push into me, into us, like lightning through our veins. Pain then nothing. A heartbeat was rising. Not mine not hers but something waking, and from the heart of the Rift, a voice echoed through the sky. “Bloodborn.” The light dimmed, the circle fell quiet. I opened my eyes. Freya was on her knees, breathing hard, eyes glassy. Kade was still beside her, face pale, holding her arm. When i looked up, the Rift wasn’t gone. It was open and something was stepping out.

gasped flames nails blood sweet peaks unified purring ruin trembling aftershocks slick entwined. Echoes whispered seductive tempt bind. Rejected flames post pulling tangled. "Lure sharp probe awaits." Nodded lips temple. "Watch adapt rewrite." Dusk group veiled Voss rituals spectral haze muffled. Slipped lines Thorne howling distant betas roars guardians Lira guiding branches fog paths whispers tempting. "Left harmony lurk right," Lira ethereal third pulsing warnings clear. Nexus shadowed tower twisted throne wards arcane air harmonies tang. Maerin unlocked vein parting blade Jenkins netting silent Sofia tattoos nets bound stride.