Bones of the Betrayed: Rise of the Last Bonekeeper

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 inhaled slowly. “Let me see your arm.”

Seren hesitated but extended it. Elias gently placed his fingers on the bruised skin near her wrist. Instantly, a jolt shot up his arm.

Pain-pain-pain-broken-fear-run-hide-save-me…

The bone-song was a flood of terror, broken, fractured memories trapped within her marrow. He gritted his teeth, trying to make sense of the chaos.

“Elias?” Seren’s voice shook. “Are you… hearing it?”

He withdrew his hand, breath unsteady. “Yes.”

“What does it say?”

He hesitated. She was just a child. But she deserved truth.

“It’s calling for help,” he said. “Your bones are screaming because you’re in danger… but they haven’t given up.”

Seren wiped her eyes. “Then please don’t give up on me.”

Thunder rumbled overhead. Elias stood, instincts pulling him to act. “Come on. We can’t stay here. Do you have anywhere safe to go?”

She shook her head again. “My parents… they’re gone. The Alchemists took them years ago. Everyone in our block knows to hide when they come.”

Elias clenched his jaw. “Then you’ll come with me.”

Seren blinked. “You’d take me? Just like that?”

“You came to me for a reason,” Elias said gently. “And I won’t abandon you.”

For a moment, her fear loosened. She managed a tiny nod. But as they stepped onto the main street, a harsh voice cut through the rain. “Well, well. If it isn’t the boneless disgrace.”

Elias stiffened. A tall man in polished bone-plate armor approached, three guards flanking him. Captain Ravel, Lyra’s cousin. His smile was a crooked mockery.

“And here I thought you’d be halfway out of the district by now,” Ravel sneered. “What’re you doing lurking around alleys? Looking for pity?”

Elias placed Seren behind him. “Leave us alone, Ravel.”

Ravel laughed. “Us? What, you’ve got a rat following you now?”

Seren flinched. Elias’s voice hardened. “She’s with me.”

“Oh?” Ravel stepped close enough that Elias could smell the sourness of bonewine on his breath. “And why would a child cling to a man who can’t even light a marrow crystal?”

Elias didn’t respond. Ravel’s eyes gleamed. “Unless… you’re hiding something.”

Seren whispered, “Elias…”

He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Don’t move.”

Ravel folded his arms. “By order of the Vintrel estate, you are forbidden from harboring dependents or taking guardianship. Hand the girl over.”

Elias’s pulse pounded. “She isn’t property.”

“She isn’t yours either,” Ravel shot back. “And if the Bone Alchemists marked her, we have rights to seize her.”

Seren’s grip tightened painfully. “No… please, Elias”

Elias stepped forward. “You are not taking her.”

Ravel tilted his head. “Is that defiance? From you?”

Elias said nothing, but his silence was answer enough. Ravel’s smile widened. “Guards. Remove the girl.”

Two armored men stepped toward Seren. She shrieked. “No! Let go of me!”

Elias moved without thinking. “Don’t touch her!”

He grabbed the nearest guard’s wrist. The moment his fingers made contact.

CRACK.

Elias felt the fracture before it formed. The guard’s bone, already weakened from an old injury, shattered like thin ice. The man screamed, collapsing to his knees.

“What, what did you do!?” the other guard cried.

Elias stared at his own trembling hand. “I… I didn’t mean to”

His breath caught. The bone-song had surged into him the instant he touched the guard. He hadn’t broken the bone.

He had simply heard where it was going to break… and the bone shattered under pressure of the guard’s movement.

But Ravel saw only harm. “You attacked a member of the Vintrel guard,” Ravel snarled. “That’s grounds for immediate imprisonment.”

Elias pulled Seren behind him again. “Stay back.”

“You think you can fight us?” Ravel barked a laugh. “You? With your empty bones?”

Elias’s jaw clenched. “My bones aren’t empty.”

“Prove it.”

Elias raised his chin, rain sliding down his face. “I don’t need to prove anything to you.”

For the first time, hesitation flickered across Ravel’s expression. “Seize them!” he shouted.

The remaining guards lunged. Elias didn’t think, he reacted. He grabbed Seren’s hand. “Run!”

They sprinted down the slick cobblestones, weaving between market stalls and bone-lit lanterns. Rain soaked them instantly. Shouts echoed behind: “After them!”

“Don’t let them escape!”

“Captain Ravel wants their heads!”

Seren gasped, “They’ll catch us!”

“Not if we keep moving.”

“But I—I can’t run fast”

Elias scooped her into his arms. “Hold on.”

Her thin arms wrapped around his neck. Elias pushed his body harder than he ever had, his breath burning. Behind them, armor clashed and boots splashed through puddles. “They’re gaining!” Seren cried.

Elias turned sharply into a side alley, and halted. A dead end. Seren whimpered. “Elias…”

“Don’t be afraid.”

Bootsteps drew closer, echoing off the stone. Ravel’s voice thundered, “It’s over. Come out, Dray!”

Seren trembled violently. Her bones vibrated with fear. Elias touched her cheek. “Look at me.”

She met his eyes. “You came to me because you believed I could help,” Elias said quietly. “So believe me now.”

Footsteps drew nearer. Elias closed his eyes. Thrum.

He reached inside, toward the sound humming through him since the trial. The faint bone-song in his own body stirred, awakening like a creature long asleep. Thrum… thrum…

Seren whispered, “El… Elias? What’s happening?”

“I don’t know,” he breathed. “But I’m going to trust it.”

Ravel’s shadow loomed. “Found you,” Ravel hissed, stepping into the alley. “Get away from the girl”

Elias opened his eyes. A pulse of sound rippled from him, unseen, unheard by ordinary men, but strong enough that the guards froze mid-step.

Ravel blinked. “What… what did you just ?”

Elias lifted Seren protectively, voice low and steady. “Walk away, Ravel.”

Ravel’s jaw tightened. “You think I’m afraid of”

Another pulse. This time, the bones in Ravel’s arms rattled audibly, vibrating beneath his skin. He stepped back in shock. “W-What was that?”

Elias didn’t know what he’d done. But he knew what it meant. His bones were not silent. They were waking. Seren clung to him. “Are we safe?”

“For now.”

Ravel cursed and retreated, dragging his injured guard away. “This isn’t over, Dray! You’ll pay for, whatever that was!”

Their footsteps vanished into the rain. Elias exhaled shakily. Seren looked up at him, eyes wide with hope. “Elias… you saved me.”

He brushed wet hair from her forehead. “We’re not safe yet. But I’ll protect you. No matter what.”

Seren nodded slowly. “The bones were right about you.”

Elias blinked. “What do you mean?”

Seren hesitated, then whispered: “They said you’re not boneless. You’re dangerous.”

Elias’s breath caught. Dangerous? He swallowed. “Let’s get somewhere dry,” he murmured. “We need to talk.”

As they slipped into the shadows of the slums, the bone-song inside Elias thrummed louder, clearer.

Awaken. Rise. Last of us…

And for the first time in his life, Elias didn’t flinch from it. He listened.