2025-11-19 16:46:59“Blood should protect blood—but some blood only thirsts for gold.”
The night the twins vanished from the Phoenix Realm, the mortal world slept beneath a quiet moon. No one in the small village of Emberfall knew that two divine infants—marked by ancient power—were about to return.
Not even the people who should have protected them.
A shimmering tear in space opened just above a shabby wooden crib inside Rylan and Seraphina’s tiny cottage. Light spilled across the walls in soft waves of white and gold. Then—gently, almost lovingly—two bundled infants drifted down onto the straw mattress.
Lyra whimpered.
Arin coughed once, then fell silent.
The house was empty.
The air smelled faintly of ash, as if Rylan’s life had burned away hours ago.
The twins, barely born, were already orphans.
But they were not alone for long.
A shadow moved outside the window.
Then another.
Whispers carried through the cracks in the wood. Ugly, greedy, excited whispers.
“Are you sure the Phoenix woman left treasure here?”
“I heard it from Elder Bram. She married into a divine clan. They must’ve gifted her something priceless.”
“Good! That fool Rylan didn’t deserve it anyway. That bastard hid everything from us!”
Rylan’s cousins.
His aunt.
All the people he had trusted since childhood.
Now circling his home like hungry wolves.
The cottage door creaked open.
A tall, wiry man stepped inside holding a lantern—Joren Vale, Rylan’s cousin, and the first to betray him when the Phoenix Clan arrived at the village weeks ago.
He sneered at the small, dimly lit room.
“So this is where the ‘great immortal bride’ lived.”
Behind him came Mirra—Rylan’s aunt—plump, sharp-eyed, and cruel in the gentle way only greedy relatives could be.
“Search everything,” she ordered. “We find the Phoenix gold before anyone else.”
The men spread out, tearing through shelves, ripping out floorboards, smashing furniture. Wood cracked, old memories shattered, and the twins began to cry from the crib.
Joren turned, startled. “What—?”
Mirra gasped. “Infants? Whose are—”
A third voice cut in.
“Look at their blankets.”
Everyone froze.
The speaker stepped forward—Elden Vale, Rylan’s uncle and the quiet ringleader behind every scheme the family had ever pulled. His eyes narrowed as he inspected the golden embroidery on the edges of the twins’ cloth.
“Phoenix sigils,” he whispered.
Gasps erupted.
Joren grinned wickedly.
Mirra clasped her hands with glee.
Elden’s smile was razor-thin.
“It means those children may have phoenix treasures hidden with them. Power. Artifacts. Maybe even divine inheritance.”
He stepped closer to the crib.
Arin flinched.
Elden’s pupils shrank.
“Careful,” he warned. “They might have something… dangerous.”
Mirra scoffed. “Dangerous? They’re infants, Elden!”
She grabbed the edge of Lyra’s blanket—and a spark of divine light shocked her backwards.
“AH!”
Elden crouched, intrigued. “So the rumors are true. These brats are part-immortal.”
Joren rubbed his hands eagerly. “Let’s sell them!”
Mirra gasped. “Sell them?! To who?”
“To traveling cultivators, of course,” Joren said like it was obvious. “To alchemists. To sects who experiment on—”
“NO,” Elden interrupted sharply. “We don’t sell the children.”
Everyone stared.
Elden’s eyes gleamed with ambition.
“We take whatever treasure they were sent with…
Mirra hesitated. “But—”
“No one will know,” Elden snapped. “The phoenix witch is gone. Rylan is gone. These children will only bring trouble.”
Lyra let out a small, frightened cry.
Arin reached out a trembling hand toward the man looming above them.
Elden ignored both.
He reached into the blankets—searching.
Searching for anything that shined.
And then he found it.
A small wooden box, the size of a fist, carved with divine runes and sealed by phoenix flame.
The moment Elden touched it, a warm pulse of power surged through the room.
Mirra inhaled sharply.
Joren’s eyes flashed greedily.
“I’m trying,” Elden grunted.
But the box didn’t budge.
Lyra’s glowing eyes turned toward the box.
Arin whimpered, pulling closer to his sister.
Mirra snapped her fingers.
Elden snarled. “I will NOT smash a divine artifact, you fool! We take it with us and break the seal later.”
“Fine,” Joren said. “But what about the children?”
Elden didn't even look at them.
Lyra suddenly screamed, her tiny voice trembling with terror.
The last thing their mother left behind.
Mirra sneered.
She reached toward them again.
This time, the divine protection seal did nothing.
The seal Seraphina placed only guarded against death.
Not cruelty.
Elden stuffed the artifact box inside his coat, ignoring the babies’ cries.
“Take the blankets too,” he said. “Phoenix fabric sells for high price.”
Mirra ripped the embroidered blanket off the infants. The sudden cold made both twins sob louder.
Their tiny bodies shook.
Joren laughed.
Elden smirked.
He turned toward the door.
But before he could step outside, a strange wind cut through the cottage—cold and sharp despite the summer night. The lantern light flickered.
A faint whisper traveled through the room.
Almost a voice.
Almost a warning.
“…mine…”
Elden froze.
Mirra’s skin prickled.
Joren swallowed. “The wind… it sounded like—like someone speaking.”
The whisper came again, louder.
“…my children…”
The twins suddenly stopped crying.
The air grew heavy.
And then—every flame in the room blew out at once.
Darkness swallowed the cottage.
Elden stiffened.
No answer.
Only the sound of a heartbeat—
But from the artifact box inside Elden’s coat.
Thump…
Thump…
Thump.
A seal awakening.
A warning.
A promise.
And then—
“…release them… or burn.”
The cottage walls shook.
Joren screamed.
Elden stumbled backward, clutching the artifact with trembling hands.
“This—this can’t be—”
The heartbeat in the box grew louder.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
Lyra’s eyes glowed red-gold.
And the whisper rose again—
Not from the room.
But from inside Elden’s mind.
“…you have taken what is mine…”
And then—
A spark ignited.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 45 - Mira and Elira Fight Beside Him
The forest answered Arin’s stand with motion.The Spirit Envoy stepped out of the trees as if he had never left, robes unruffled, expression unchanged. The cultists followed at a measured distance, their formation looser now, confident. They had felt the resistance flare and judged it insufficient.The Envoy’s gaze fixed on Arin first.“So,” he said calmly, “you choose defiance.”Arin did not move. The faint shadow-armour shimmered across his shoulders and chest, breathing with him. It was thin. Incomplete. But it held.“I choose time,” Arin replied.The Envoy’s eyes flicked to Lyra, then back. “Time runs out.”Mira did not wait for another word.She roared and charged, injured leg screaming, but carrying her forward anyway. Her club came down in a brutal arc meant to shatter bone and certainty alike. The strike hit the Envoy’s barrier with a thunderous crack that rattled the trees.The barrier bowed.Not much.But enough.Mira grinned through pain. “Good. You feel it.”Elira moved at
Chapter 44 - Arin’s Desperate Stand
The forest did not return to normal after the cult withdrew.The air remained strained, like a breath held too long. Leaves no longer rustled naturally. Even the light filtering through the canopy felt cautious, as though the world itself had learned fear.Arin stood where he had fallen, Lyra still in his arms.She was conscious now, but shaken, her fingers curled tightly into his shirt as if letting go would invite the cult back into existence. Her phoenix glow had receded to a dim, uneasy pulse, no longer flaring—but not at peace either.“They’ll come again,” Mira said quietly.She was on her feet now, leaning heavily on her club, leg trembling but stubbornly upright. Dirt streaked her face. Anger burned behind her eyes.Elira did not argue. She scanned the trees, listening to what lingered after danger had passed. “Yes. And next time, they won’t probe.”Arin knew that already.The Spirit Envoy’s calm certainty had been worse than any threat. That had not been an attack. It had been
Chapter 43 - The Spirit-Seeking Cult Returns
Hope never lasted long.Arin felt it fracture the moment the River of First Light slipped behind them, its glow fading into memory. The land hardened again, colour draining back into the muted tones of the wildlands. Even Lyra’s steps, stronger now, carried a faint echo of unease.Something was following.He did not say it aloud at first. He watched. Listened. Counted heartbeats between sounds.Elira sensed it soon after. Her pace slowed, posture shifting subtly as her attention spread outward. Mira noticed last, when the air thickened enough to press against her lungs.“Don’t tell me,” Mira muttered. “I can feel it crawling.”Lyra’s fingers tightened around Arin’s sleeve. “They’re close.”The wind shifted.Chanting rolled through the trees.It was not the desperate cadence of the cultists they had faced before. This was measured, disciplined, resonant. Each syllable carried weight, layered with intent and control.The Spirit-Seeking Cult had returned.Figures emerged from the forest
Chapter 42 - The River of First Light
The land changed before the river appeared.Arin felt it long before he saw anything with his eyes. The wildlands that had pressed in on them for days—dry, starving, stripped of colour—began to soften. The ground no longer cracked beneath their steps. The air grew lighter, cooler, carrying a faint scent that reminded Arin of rain that had never fallen.“This way,” he said quietly, stopping at a fork where no path should exist.Mira frowned. “There’s nothing here.”“I know,” Arin replied. “But it’s here.”Elira studied him for a moment, then nodded. “I feel it too. The pressure is different.”Lyra leaned against Arin, weak but alert. Her skin still carried a subtle warmth, but the wild flare had dulled into a painful, restless ember. She closed her eyes briefly, then whispered, “It’s calling.”They followed the pull through a narrow stretch of stone where shadows bent strangely, not stretching with the light but folding inward. The farther they walked, the quieter the world became. Ins
Chapter 41 - Arin’s First Plea to the Voices
Night fell unevenly after Lyra’s collapse.The air still smelled of scorched bark and sap, the ground blackened in a wide circle around where she lay wrapped in Mira’s cloak. Her breathing was shallow but steady now, each rise and fall a fragile promise that she had not burned away from the inside.Arin sat beside her, unmoving.His injured arm throbbed with a deep, insistent pain, skin tight and blistered beneath crude bandages. He barely felt it. Every sense he had was fixed on the small rhythm of Lyra’s breath, on the faint glow beneath her skin that pulsed like a restrained star.Elira stood watch a short distance away, silent and alert. Mira paced, restless, anger simmering beneath worry. Neither spoke.Arin did not trust himself to speak.The fear came in waves now that the crisis had passed, hitting harder because there was no action left to take. He had held her together by instinct and desperation, but instinct was not a plan. Next time, he might not be enough.There would be
Chapter 40 - Lyra’s First Fevered Transformation
Lyra collapsed without warning.One moment, she was walking beside Arin, steps small but steady, fingers curled around his sleeve. Next, her knees buckled as if the ground had vanished beneath her. Arin caught her just before her head struck the dirt, the sudden weight knocking the breath from his lungs.“Lyra,” he said sharply. “Lyra, look at me.”Her body burned.Not like a fever. Not like illness.Like a furnace sealed beneath skin.Arin hissed and nearly let go, shock jolting through his palms. Heat radiated from her chest and back in waves, growing stronger by the second. Her breath came in short, panicked gasps, eyes unfocused and glassy.“Arin,” she whispered. “It hurts.”Mira swore and rushed over, injured leg forgotten. “She’s cooking.”Elira was already kneeling, hands hovering but not touching. “This is not a sickness.”Lyra arched suddenly, a strangled cry tearing from her throat. Golden light flared beneath her skin, tracing branching patterns along her spine and shoulder
You may also like
WHIT
VKBoy20.5K viewsThe God of War Calen Storm
Cindy Chen30.8K viewsTales of the Slime Tamer
Rapture Tales62.2K viewsReincarnated With A Badluck System
Perverted_Fella49.4K viewsThe Crownless Curse
Emay1.0K viewsRise of The Martian Heir
SSThea1.2K viewsThe Forgotten War God Son-in-law
Destiny O.A278 viewsUntouchable Arnold Hayes
Riku Ormstrom2.5K views