SHADOWS OF THE BLOODLINE
Seventeen-year-old Rune Weaver thought his biggest problem was surviving senior year at New Haven High. Then a shadow creature attacked him in the school parking lot, and a mysterious man saved his life by throwing fire from his bare hands. Now Rune knows the truth: he is descended from an ancient line of sorcerers called Etherwind, and the darkness that destroyed his ancestors five hundred years ago has returned.
He is not alone. Four other teenagers across the city have just discovered their own magical heritage, each from a different Etherwind bloodline. Together they are the last hope against Grimfall, an ancient force of living darkness that feeds on fear and despair. But learning magic is not like the movies. Their powers are wild and dangerous, and every spell they cast brings them closer to the madness that consumed their ancestors.
As the shadows spread across New Haven, turning ordinary people into mindless thralls, Rune and his unlikely allies must master their abilities before Grimfall completes its return. They have six weeks until the convergence, when the barrier between worlds falls completely. Six weeks to become the sorcerers their bloodlines demand. Six weeks to save everyone they love from being swallowed by eternal night.
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Chapter: CHAPTER 65Rune POVI came downstairs from delivering the package to Aeris, my mind still spinning with everything that had been happening lately. Wilder's condition was getting worse, and the whispers in his head were constant now. I'd seen the way his eyes had looked when I tried to talk to him earlier - empty, and distant, like he was somewhere else entirely.The Sanctum was different at night. The training area upstairs was quiet, but down here in the living quarters, the fluorescent lights hummed softly, casting it all in a pale yellow glow. My footsteps echoed on my way to the kitchen, pulled in by the sound of the refrigerator opening and closing.Zayan was there, bent over the fridge, pulling leftovers from the grocery run he'd made earlier. Even from the doorway, I could see how much he'd filled it - real food, not scraps as we'd all been surviving on before Aeris started paying him."Couldn't sleep either?" I asked, propping against the doorframe.Zayan looked over his shoulder, not st
Last Updated: 2026-02-10
Chapter: CHAPTER 64Aires POVRune's expression darkened. "Worse. The whispers are constant at this point. He can hardly hear anything else. I tried to talk to him an hour ago, and he just stared at me as though he didn't know who I was.""Keep somebody with him at all times. Don't let him be alone. If his eyes get completely black, you come get me immediately.""What if you're not here?"Then you lock the door and do not let him out until I get back." I despised uttering it, but we did not want to subject Wilder to the possibility of complete corruption and attacking the others. "I'm serious, Rune. This is important."He nodded, troubled and understanding. "Okay. I'll stay with him."After Rune left me, I closed and locked the door again. I thought about how tired Rune looked. Was it the training coupled with everything that's going on that is tiring him out, or was it Wilder's condition?I released a deep breath I didn't even know I was holding. Mentally, I gave myself a deadline to at least push all
Last Updated: 2026-02-08
Chapter: CHAPTER 63Aires POVFaint at first, just shimmer around his fingers. But it became brighter and brighter, spreading up his arms. Green light - Earth, Organized. An Etherwind descendant. Earth element, I guess if I had to guess.Two people in hazmat suits appeared on the screen. They opened up the cage, and the young man tried to fight back and threw a punch that should have smashed through concrete. But they'd anticipated it. One of them jabbed him with something (syringe, maybe) and he immediately collapsed.They dragged him out of frame.The video changed to another angle. A sterile room with white walls, observation window. The young man was still unconscious - strapped to a table. One of the hazmat people stood over him with what appeared to be a modified IV. Black liquid poured out of the bag into the tube and flowed towards the young man's arm.I knew what that liquid was even before I saw what happened next.Grimfall essence. Concentrated darkness. They were intentionally infecting him.
Last Updated: 2026-02-08
Chapter: CHAPTER 62Aeris POV"Has to be." Aeris tapped the notebook. "Think about it. The barriers of Grimfall are crumbling down by themselves, but is there somebody accelerating it? Breeding: What are these experiments doing to make things worse?The thoughts of Kaladin were whirling, joining dots. They are making weak points in the barrier by exposing people to Grimfall energy. Anything that fails, anyone who dies by being exposed, that is one more crack in Grimfall's favour."Exactly." Aeris was looking at him with a kind of disapproving look. It is not only unethical for your parents work. It is actually assisting Grimfall in breaking through."They are not aware that, right? They think they are studying it, getting it in hand. Most likely, they believe that they are doing something good.""Probably." Aeris's expression darkened.Which is even more dangerous to whoever is running this operation. Because they do know. They have to. You do not intend to design this kind of experiment without having
Last Updated: 2026-02-07
Chapter: CHAPTER 61Author's POVRelief flooded Zayan's face so obviously he didn't even try to hide it. His entire body practically sagged from muscles still screaming from yesterday's brutal session. Add that to the scare of earlier and his lack of sleep. Two more hours of recovery sounded like a gift from god."Why?" Rune asked, opening his eyes. "Is something wrong?""Just handling some things." Aeris made it clear he wasn't elaborating with his tone. "Use the time to rest. Eat something. We go hard when we start back up, and I need you all to be functional."Eilish looked like she wanted to ask something, but thought better of it. Rune nodded his head, probably going to his room to actually go to sleep. Zayan was already on his way to walking towards the kitchen area, where he was muttering something about food.But Aeris's eyes were upon Kaladin."Kaladin. My office. Now."The brown-haired young boy stopped in his tracks, his hair falling into his eyes. "Why? What did I do?""Nothing. Just need to
Last Updated: 2026-02-06
Chapter: CHAPTER 60Author's POV"I've been working out.""Bullshit." She said it quietly enough, so Maya did not hear. "Something happened to you. Something big. And you're not telling us."Marcus joined her. "She's right. You vanish for days, return with cash, and won't explain anything. What's going on, Zayan?"Zayan looked at his siblings. Marcus, who's always looked up to him, even when Zayan gave him nothing to look up to. Zenna is brilliant and ambitious, and desperate to prove herself. Maya was too young to understand the reason behind her brother's leaving.He couldn't tell them. Aeris had been clear - no one outside the group could know about the Etherwind, about Grimfall, about any of it. Too dangerous."I'm assisting somebody with security work," Zayan said. "That's all. It's temporary, but it pays. Now do the list, and we can pick up some grocery things before the store closes."Zenna didn't believe him. He could see it in her face. But she took a piece of paper and began writing anyway.It
Last Updated: 2026-02-05
