2025-11-16 17:29:45
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CHAPTER 8 — THE MARK OF THE HEIR
Jake’s lungs burned as he tore through the drenched swamp, branches whipping his face, rain blurring his vision.His boots splashed through mud and shallow pools, slipping dangerously with every frantic step. Behind him, “STOP THAT HEALER!”“FOREMAN, DON’T RUN!”“RASK WANTS HIM ALIVE!”Jake choked out, “Lyra, tell me we’re losing them!”Lyra sprinted beside him, barely out of breath. “We’re not.”“Awesome,” Jake wheezed. “Love that for us.”The glowing sigil on his wrist throbbed like a second heartbeat, lighting the fog around him with pulses of silver. Jake tried covering it. “Lyra, can I, can I turn this off?!”“No.”“Is there a dimming switch? A sleep mode? Anything?!”“Jake, it’s a birthright seal, not a lantern!”Jake would’ve argued, but a spear flew past his ear and embedded itself in a tree with a hard thunk. Jake yelped, “AH! They’re trying to kill me!”Lyra corrected calmly, “That soldier missed you on purpose.”Jake stared. “On purpose?!”“They want you alive.”“Since when
CHAPTER 7 — HUNTED BY THE LIVING
Cold rain pounded the earth as Jake and Lyra stepped out of the Sanctum. The horns kept sounding, three long, low blasts that vibrated through the swamp like a warning from the kingdom itself.Jake stiffened. “That’s definitely Rask.”Lyra nodded grimly. “He’s releasing the whole garrison.”Jake’s stomach knotted. “But… why send armed soldiers after me? I didn’t do anything!”Lyra gave him a pointed look. Jake sighed. “Okay, I did a little something.”“You threw a commander across a room,” she reminded.“He was going to chain me!”“And then your shadows attacked.”“Again, panic! Reflex! Magic hissy fit!”Lyra didn’t even blink. “You unleashed enough force to knock a horse down.”Jake threw up his hands. “Great. I’m terrifying and unemployed.”A second horn blasted, shorter, sharper. Lyra froze. “Jake… that signal means something else.”“What?”“They found blood.”Jake’s breath hitched. “Mine?”“No,” she said quietly. “Hunter blood.”Jake’s eyes widened. “Wait, Rask thinks I killed tha
CHAPTER 6 — BIRTH OF A SHADOWHEALER
The hunters closed in, claws scraping stone, jaws gaping wide. Their bodies twitched unnaturally, like puppets controlled by something unseen.The chamber lights flickered as their shadows stretched long and thin across the floor, reaching for Jake. Lyra stepped in front of him, blades raised. “Jake, stay behind me. You aren’t ready to fight them.”Jake shook his head slowly. “I’m done hiding.”“You don’t even know how to use your power,” she hissed.“I’ll learn fast.”“Jake”Too late. The first hunter lunged. Jake’s instincts kicked in, shadows erupting from his palms like whips. Lyra shoved him aside. “Jake, NO !”The shadows snapped across the room, slicing through the air with lethal precision. The hunter froze mid-jump as the black tendrils wrapped around its throat, its chest, its limbs.Jake gasped. “I didn’t, I didn’t mean to”Lyra’s eyes widened. “Your power… it’s reacting to fear.”“I’m terrified!” Jake cried. “What did you expect?!”The shadows tightened. The hunter let ou
CHAPTER 5 — THE SANCTUM’S TEST
Jake sprinted deeper into the Sanctum of Threads as the hunters’ screeches echoed off the stone behind him. His heart pounded violently, his breath sharp and ragged.Silver veins in the walls pulsed faster as he passed, reacting to his presence, guiding him, warning him, urging him onward.He stumbled into a circular chamber lit by a pale-blue glow leaking from cracks in the ceiling. “Please tell me there’s a door,” he gasped. There wasn’t.Instead, the circular room held a single object: A stone pedestal. On top of it, A sphere of swirling black mist. Jake backed up instantly. “Nope. No. Absolutely not. I’m not touching that.”The shadows around the sphere flickered. And answered him. “Come, Heir.”Jake’s skin crawled. “No thank you. Very much no thank you.”Behind him, Lyra shouted, “Jake! MOVE!”He turned, Lyra was fighting three hunters at once. Her blades flashed silver, slicing through the darkness like shards of moonlight.But the hunters were relentless, their bodies twisting
CHAPTER 4 — HUNTERS IN THE DARK
The marsh swallowed their footsteps as Jake followed Lyra into the blackened borderland ruins. Lightning flickered above jagged stone spires jutting from the swamp like broken teeth.The air smelled like wet ash and old sorcery. Jake’s breath came fast. “Lyra, slow down. I can’t see anything.”“You don’t need to,” she said. “Just stay close.”“That’s very comforting,” Jake muttered.A distant howl echoed across the ruins, not human, not animal. Something in between. Jake froze. “What was that?”Lyra didn’t stop walking. “The hunters released scouts.”“Scouts? As in… looking for us?”“As in tracking your shadow signature.”Jake felt the shadows curl nervously around his wrists. “Can they smell it?”“Yes.”“Oh fantastic,” Jake groaned. “So I’m basically a walking scented candle for assassins.”Lyra didn’t respond. Another howl echoed, closer. Jake swallowed hard. “Lyra, what do they want with me?”“To kill you,” she said plainly.Jake stopped dead. “You say that like it’s a normal erran
CHAPTER 3 — THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Rain hammered the marsh like it was trying to drown the entire borderland. Mud clung to Jake’s boots as he backed away from the hooded woman, breath ragged and misting in the cold night air.He lifted his hands defensively. “Stay back.”She didn’t move.Her pale eyes glowed faintly beneath her hood, reflecting every flicker of lightning. “Jake,” she said calmly, “running won’t change what you are.”“I’m not Shadowborn,” he snapped. “I’m a healer. A normal healer.”“You saw life threads,” she replied. “You touched the shadow coils. You commanded them. That is not normal.”Jake’s heart pounded painfully. “It’s a hallucination. A breakdown. Stress. Anything else.”She tilted her head. “Then why did the shadows obey you?”“I don’t know!” Jake shouted, louder than he intended. “I don’t know what’s happening to me!”The woman stepped closer. Jake stepped back. She stopped exactly where he wanted her to. “Jake… the kingdom has been hunting your bloodline for two decades. Do you truly think w
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