Home / Fantasy / The Crownless Curse / Chapter 31: The Price of Mercy
Chapter 31: The Price of Mercy
Author: Emay
last update2025-07-27 16:31:38

Kael pulled himself up from the crumbling edge of the ravine, boots slipping against loose gravel as the wind howled behind him. Blood soaked the left side of his tunic, a gash from the battle with the twin-faced wraith still oozing despite Lira’s healing efforts. The path ahead was narrow, carved into the edge of the mountains like a forgotten scar. Below, the drop was endless.

He didn’t look back. Nyra limped behind him, her breaths shallow. She hadn’t spoken since the fight. Her hands trembled, not from fear but something colder. Guilt. Maybe that was why she had kept silent when the creature had whispered to her in the dark. Maybe that was why Kael had spared her.

Lira caught up beside him. Her fingers brushed his arm before pulling back. She had been distant ever since they left the archive ruins. The vision she had seen in the blade—he could still see it in her eyes, the weight of prophecy pressing down like a yoke of stone.

“You’re bleeding again,” she said.

“It’ll stop.” He gl
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