All Chapters of Bones of the Betrayed: Rise of the Last Bonekeeper: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
14 chapters
CHAPTER 1 — “THE DIVORCE OF A BONELESS MAN”
The courtroom smelled of bone-dust and rosewater, sweet enough to mask the stench of cruelty, sharp enough to remind Elias Dray that nothing about today was meant to be gentle.“Elias Dray,” Judge Marrow intoned, his voice echoing against polished bone walls, “do you understand the accusation brought against you?”Elias swallowed. “Yes, Your Honor.”Lyra Vintrel, his wife for three humiliating years, didn’t even look at him. She stood tall in her silk mourning-black, the color nobles wore when discarding someone beneath their dignity.Her gaze remained fixed ahead, jaw rigid, as if acknowledging him would dirty her tongue. The gallery buzzed like vultures circling a corpse.“Then let us proceed.” The judge turned to Lyra. “Lady Vintrel, your grounds for divorce?”Lyra’s voice rang out like a blade. “My husband is defective.”A ripple of snickers swept through the chamber. Elias clenched his hands. “Lyra, please”“Do not address me,” she snapped.Judge Marrow lifted a hand. “Evidence?”
CHAPTER 2 — “THE GIRL WITH SCREAMING BONES”
Rain began to fall in thin, icy threads as Elias guided the trembling girl deeper into the alley. She clung to his sleeve with desperate fingers, her breaths sharp and uneven. “What’s your name?” he asked softly.“S-Seren,” she whispered.“Seren… you’re safe with me now. No one will hurt you.”She shook her head violently. “You don’t understand. They’ll come. They always come back.”Elias crouched so he could meet her eyes. “Tell me what happened. Everything.”Seren’s lip trembled. “I—I heard them talking. They said my brother had ‘good marrow.’ They said his bone-core was strong. So they took him. They took all the strong kids.”Elias felt his stomach twist. “The Bone Alchemists?”Seren nodded. “And you think they’re coming for you too?”She gulped. “I know they are.”A chill shivered down Elias’s spine, not from the cold rain, but from the faint vibration humming inside Seren’s bones.Her skeleton pulsed with fear, her ribs echoing rhythmically like a drum beating out a warning. He
CHAPTER 3 — “THE BONES OF TRUTH”
The slums of Lowbone were a maze of narrow corridors and leaning shacks, lit only by flickering marrow-lamps that buzzed like dying insects.Elias moved quickly, keeping Seren close, ducking beneath torn awnings and weaving between vendors closing their stalls for the night. Seren whispered, “Where are we going?”“Somewhere the guards won’t bother us,” Elias said. “And where the Bone Alchemists can’t reach.”Seren hugged herself. “Do they… do they really take children here too?”Elias’s jaw tightened. “Everywhere.”A street beggar lifted his head as they passed. “Elias?” he rasped. “Back so soon? Thought your noble wife kicked you out for good.”Elias gave a strained smile. “Good to see you too, Harp.”The beggar squinted at Seren. “Who’s the little one?”“My responsibility,” Elias said, and something in his tone made the man nod and return to his blankets.Seren whispered, “You know everyone here.”“I used to treat people,” Elias replied. “Even without magic.”“Why?”“Because someone
CHAPTER 4 — “THE MARROW MARKET”
Night in Lowbone was never truly dark. The bones of the dead lit the streets in pale blue lanterns, each flickering with thin strands of stored marrow-light.Elias moved beneath them with urgent steps, Seren keeping close as they slipped deeper into the slums. “Are we leaving the city tonight?” Seren whispered.“Yes,” Elias said. “We have to.”“But the gates are guarded. What if they stop us?”Elias glanced down at her. “Then we’ll find another way out.”Seren nodded, though she didn’t look convinced. Her wrist still throbbed, the marrow corruption inside her pulsing like a bruise beneath the skin.Elias reached into his satchel and pulled out a strip of cloth. “Give me your arm.”She extended it shakily. He wrapped the bandage tightly to hide the discoloration. “Will this help?” Seren asked.“It’ll disguise it,” Elias answered. “For now.”Seren looked around nervously. “Where are we going?”“To someone who owes me a favor.”They turned a corner, and the stench hit them first, thick,
CHAPTER 5— “THE BONEHUNTERS”
Torches flared along the entrances of the Marrow Market as Elias and Seren slipped into the narrow winding paths between shacks.The air buzzed with panic, vendors scrambling to hide illegal goods, children darting into gutters, bone-thieves scattering like insects when light hits.Seren clung tightly to Elias’s neck. “They’re everywhere,” she whispered.“I know,” he murmured. “But they aren’t looking for the market. They’re looking for us.”A horn blared again, closer. Elias ducked behind a wall of stacked bone crates. Through the gaps, he saw armored figures fanning out through the market, Bonehunters.Elite enforcers of the Bone Alchemist Council. Their helmets were carved to look like skulls, their armor etched with symbols of extraction.Seren inhaled sharply. “Those are the ones who took Bram.”Elias felt her trembling and shifted her weight so she could bury her face against him. “I won’t let them take you.”“But what if they find us?”“They won’t,” Elias said. “We move fast, s
CHAPTER 6 — “THE TUNNELS OF THE BONEKEEPERS”
The moment Elias and Seren hit the ground beneath the grate, darkness swallowed them whole. It wasn’t the dim, flickering darkness of the slums.This was deeper, thick, ancient, suffocating. Seren clutched Elias’s coat. “I—I can’t see anything.”“Stay close,” Elias whispered, steadying her. “Give your eyes a moment.”But even after a few breaths, the pitch-black didn’t soften. The air smelled stale, like old stone and forgotten bones. Seren shook. “Elias… where are we?”Elias ran his fingers along the wall. The texture was smooth, cold, and strangely… curved. “We’re in the old Bonekeeper tunnels,” he murmured. “These were sealed off years ago.”Seren swallowed. “Why?”“Because the Alchemists wanted all traces of Bonekeeper magic erased.”A faint drip echoed through the tunnel, followed by a distant rumbling, like something shifting underground. Seren flinched. “What was that?”“Sound travels strangely down here,” Elias said. “It’s probably just the tunnels settling.”But he wasn’t sur
CHAPTER 7 — “THE ECHO’S MEMORY”
The tunnels grew colder the farther they traveled, the air thick with an ancient heaviness that pressed on Elias’s lungs.Seren held his hand tightly, her small fingers trembling every time the distant echoes shifted behind them. “Elias… are we still following the path the Remnant showed us?” she whispered.“Yes,” Elias murmured, lifting the bone dagger to illuminate the corridor. “This way.”Seren’s voice quivered. “Do you think there are more of those… things?”“Maybe,” Elias said truthfully. “But the Remnant didn’t attack us in the end. That means something.”Seren hugged her arms. “Everything down here feels like it’s watching us.”Elias felt it too, an invisible pressure crawling along his spine, like the bones in the walls were holding their breath.The symbols etched into the walls were changing as they moved: first simple runes, then more complicated spirals, then long winding lines that glowed faintly whenever he passed.“Why do they light up when you get close?” Seren asked,
CHAPTER 8 — “THE HUNTERS IN THE DARK”
Ravel stepped forward with arrogant confidence, bone-blade glinting under the faint glow of Elias’s dagger.“Well,” he said mockingly, “look at you. Playing explorer in a tomb. I suppose every rat must find its way back to the sewer.”Seren trembled behind Elias. “Elias… we can’t fight them.”“No,” Elias whispered. “But we can survive.”Ravel clicked his tongue. “Still pretending to be brave? Adorable. Hand over the girl before my patience rots. The Bone Alchemists want her alive.”“And if I refuse?” Elias asked.Ravel smiled. “Then we take her from your corpse.”Seren hugged Elias tighter. “Don’t let them take me.”He whispered, “They won’t.”Ravel nodded to his men. “Surround them.”Bonehunters moved swiftly, forming a half-circle. Their armor gleamed, runes pulsing like veins of cold fire.Elias felt the bone-song ripple through his ribs, urging him to move, to fight, to awaken. He tightened his grip on the dagger. Ravel raised his blade. “Last chance, cousin. Don’t make me dirty m
CHAPTER 9 — “THE BONES THAT REMEMBER”
The tunnel narrowed as Elias and Seren moved deeper, the glow of ancient runes pulsing faintly beneath their steps. The air was cooler here, cleaner, almost… expectant.Seren held Elias’s hand tightly. “Do you think Ravel will come back?”“He will,” Elias answered. “But not immediately.”“How do you know?”Elias exhaled. “Because he’s afraid.”Seren blinked. “Afraid of you?”“He should be.”Seren quieted at the tone in his voice, firm, steady, unfamiliar even to Elias himself. They walked until the tunnel opened into a smaller chamber lined with shelves carved from bone.Fractured tablets, hollowed femurs filled with parchment, and marrow-crystals dimmed by age lay scattered as if abandoned in a hurry. Seren gasped softly. “What is this place?”Elias stilled. “An archive.”Her eyes widened. “Like… a library?”“A Bonekeeper memory chamber,” Elias said, stepping inside. “Their histories, spells, rituals… everything they protected.”Seren touched a dusty shelf. “Why did they leave all th
CHAPTER 10— “THE BONE-SEER’S PROPHECY”
Elias didn’t lower the dagger. Princess Caedia stood perfectly still at the threshold of the Bonekeeper archive, her wet hair clinging to her pale cheeks, her clouded eyes glowing dimly in the bone-light.Seren pressed herself closer to Elias. “Why… why is she here?”Caedia tilted her head slightly, sensing Seren’s fear. “Child, I mean you no harm.”Elias stepped forward, blocking her view. “State your purpose.”A small smile tugged at the corner of Caedia’s lips. “Direct. Good.”“I’m not joking,” Elias said, voice tight. “You followed us down here. Why?”Caedia inhaled deeply, her blind eyes drifting toward the glowing runes on the wall. “Because the bones called me. They haven’t been this loud since the Bonekeepers vanished.”Elias’s grip tightened. “You said the bones scream my name.”“Yes,” Caedia replied softly. “Over and over.”Seren swallowed. “Why would they do that?”Caedia stepped closer slowly, carefully. “Because he awakened something that was meant to stay buried.”Elias