2025-09-04 19:08:15
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter Twenty – The River Reckoning
They left Garric's forge with the mask wrapped and the rod hooked into the pack. Night pressed thick around the mills and the river moved like a living thing, pulling and giving with a patience that made men feel small. Darian walked with the scrap of names in his pocket and the locket hot against his sternum. The binding hummed through him, steady and insistent, a reminder that every step now carried weight.Merek rode in Soren's cart with a blanket over his chest. The captain looked smaller than he had on the bridge and the blood on his tunic had dried into dark maps. His breaths came less often but when he opened his eyes he found Darian and nodded. No words were needed. The nod said keep moving, keep the promise.Kade moved ahead like a shadow with teeth. He had welcomed the hunt and now he kept them fed with routes and rumors. His grin was a line drawn tight across something softer. Isolde walked close by Darian and sometimes lifted the mask up just enough to let the moonlight lo
Chapter Nineteen – Varrow's Hand
The man at the bench smiled like a razor. His cloak had been stripped to a rag and the light from the hearth painted his face with a sick gold. Varrow. The name tasted like metal in Darian's mouth. The sigil on his cuff burned with a small, cruel pride. He set the device down with careful hands as if laying a child into a cradle."You should not have come for this," Varrow said. His voice was soft and even. It did not need to shout to command the room. "Some truths get people killed."Garric's shoulders hunched. He gripped the anvil edge and did not speak. Kade stepped forward, knife ready but his hands did not tremble. Soren reached for a hammer and then thought better of it. The men in the doorway had not come to bargain. They came to collect."Give it," Varrow said to Darian. He angled his head as if he offered an invitation rather than a demand.Darian felt the binding like a rope at his ribs. The locket under his tunic thrummed and the mask in his hands weighed like a verdict. He
Chapter Eighteen – The Narrow Gate
The newcomer dropped hard and breathed like a man who had run too long. He had a face like weathered rope and eyes that did not ask questions. He swung his hood back and spat river water from his mouth. "Name is Kade," he said. "Follow me if you want Garric alive and not set to roast in the regent s oven."Soren swore low and shoved the oars with a renewed fury. The cutters cut the wake close and bolts spat over the skiff like angry birds. The grapnel had been flung again and this time one hook landed with a thunk that made the boat shudder. Men leaned out from the cutter with poles. The new man swung himself to the prow and cut the rope with a knife that flashed silver."Got it," he panted. "Move. The channel splits under the old mill. Take left and hug the wall. The tide will throw you into the sluice by the broken wheel. They will not fit fast boats there."Isolde cursed softly and pushed Soren aside for a stroke. The skiff lurched and answered. Darian kept his hands tight on the m
Chapter Seventeen – Maras Mark
The channel closed around them like a throat. Stone walls rose on either side, slick with green and white where the river had licked them for years. The skiff rode the current like a small animal in a narrow tunnel. Soren bent to the oars with the quiet fury of a man who had chosen this life and accepted its price. The oars bit water and the spray smelled of iron and old leaves.Darian sat with the mask wrapped against his chest and the locket a hot coin under cloth. The binding hummed low, a sound he felt in his teeth as much as he heard it. The names in his pocket shifted like coins nudged by a finger. He had bound himself to memory and now every stroke of the oar sounded like a clock marking the hours left.Lyra watched the dark with eyes that did not sleep. Her fingers were stained with herbs and with Merek s blood. She kept checking the captain bundled behind them and bunched her shawl over his shoulders like a ward against the cold. Isolde rode like a shadow at Darian s elbow, t
Chapter Sixteen – Quayside Promise
They moved through Vallis like ghosts that had learned how to breathe. The mills crouched along the quay with their faces turned to the river. Wheels hung slack in their frames and the air smelled of wet grain and oil. Isolde led with the metal rod low and steady. Lyra carried Merek bundled in a rough cloak. His breaths came shallow and came less often as they ran.Darian kept the mask wrapped in oilcloth against his chest where the locket burned like a pulse. The river had answered him once. Now it seemed to watch as if waiting to be asked another question. Behind them the city roared with voices that wanted justice and voices that wanted order. Both kinds of noise chased them beneath the Spire’s slow blue glow.They found a small door under the largest mill, one that opened into a dry cellar and a maze of carts. The old binder had told them keepers and binders often hid in plain places. A man with a face like folded paper met them at the threshold. He had a pair of bright eyes that
Chapter Fifteen – River Claim
Water closed over the masked face and the bridge lurched as if the world had lost its balance. Darian felt the tug of the current like a hand on his sleeve. He reached and his fingers scraped the silver. For a breath the mask floated, teetered, and then a pale hand shot up from beneath and snatched the edge.Something hauled itself out of the water with the weight of a storm. Cloak torn, hair plastered in wet dark, the figure rolled on the planks coughing river and mud. The mask came free and clattered at Darian’s feet. The hood fell back and the face beneath it blinked at him with eyes that were all sharp angles and old hurt.Darian did not know the face. He thought he did and then the thought unraveled. There was a scar along the jaw that cut like a remembered name. The mouth shaped something like a sorry and then like a threat. The figure spat river and pushed up on shaking arms.Around them men surged, some to drag the stranger from the bridge, some to seize Darian and the locket
You may also like
Wake Up With Super Villain System
Oceanna Lee12.8K viewsI Shall Eat The Heavens
Daoist Of Lies28.9K viewsXianXia : Sovereign of the Gods
kalki_gsk18.2K viewsREX: The Powerful Being
Moni Sky12.9K viewsHelltown
Sofia Wild1.1K viewsRise of the Sciencemancer
Jon Klement2.3K viewsThe Gate of Eternity Curse of Heaven
Haiistory821 viewsUltimate Power Holder
Meoisi1.2K views