A Line Crossed
Author: MDW
last update2025-03-06 20:55:25

The drive back to the safe house was quiet, but the tension between them had shifted. It wasn’t the heavy silence of uncertainty anymore—it was charged, unspoken, and laced with something Clara wasn’t sure she was ready to name.

Brown’s grip on the steering wheel was firm, his eyes locked on the road ahead. But she could feel it—the way his body remained just a little too tense, the way his jaw clenched like he was holding something back.

"You didn’t have to do that back there," Clara finally said, breaking the silence.

Brown didn’t take his eyes off the road. "Do what?"

"Stand up to my mother and Daniel like that," she murmured. "They’re… difficult, but they’re my family. You don’t have to fight my battles for me."

Brown let out a humorless chuckle. "Clara, you think I did that for you?" He glanced at her briefly, his expression unreadable. "I did that because they don’t get to talk to you like that. Not when they don’t understand what you’re up against."

She swallowed, feeling her c
Continue to read this book for free
Scan the code to download the app

Latest Chapter

  • Nightfall

    The capital shimmered like a crown of glass under the weight of its secrets. Beneath its brilliant skyline, rot bloomed in silence.Kael raced through shadowed alleys with the stolen ledger tucked beneath his cloak. Behind him, black-cloaked enforcers from the Internal Stability Commission stalked the streets—not as protectors, but hunters.In the Senate chamber, Chancellor Veyra Dargan addressed the ruling elite.“Our forces have intercepted what we believe to be a cross-border insurgency. As acting Chancellor during the king's extended absence, I call for Emergency Powers—to protect Konzia from collapse.”Most senators nodded, cowed or complicit.But not all.A lone figure stood.General Maelis Thorne.“If you declare martial law, you’ll turn Konzia into a tomb,” she warned. “We do not stand for tyranny, even under the shadow of war.”Veyra smiled thinly. “Then may history judge your hesitation… harsh

  • Desert Outskirts

    Konzian High Command — War Room, Central Citadel, Day 0427 Post-RiftKael stood before the central table, its surface alive with projections of border activity. Every flash of red across Delran Gorge burned like an accusation.He clenched his fists. “They’re doing it. Velmora’s really marching toward provocation.”Clara paced along the window, her tone sharp. “Brown confirmed it. But if we strike first, the Global Council will label Konzia the aggressor.”Marshal Tyran, older now, his beard streaked with gray and eyes shadowed by decades of campaigns, leaned on his cane. His voice, however, remained iron-clad.“We won’t strike. Not yet. But ..."---Velmora – Eastern Corridor, Three Clicks from Blackspire OutpostThe wind in the desert carried dust and heat, but it was the silence that unsettled Brown the most.Crouched behind a rust-stained dune crawler, his armor cloaked in stealth polymer, Brown peer

  • The Eye of the Forge

    The air inside the forge crackled with unnatural heat—not just fire, but rage harnessed into power. Magitech pylons lined the walls, humming with unstable energy. Brown moved like a shadow between them, Kael covering the rear, Clara overriding arcane sensors with a stolen cipher ring.“Third junction, then down the descent shaft,” she whispered through the comm bead.“Copy,” Brown replied, his voice gravel.Every step felt heavier. Not from the weight of his gear—but from what was waiting. From who was waiting.Valric wasn’t just his son anymore. He was something more. Something worse.Valric stood atop a platform surrounded by flowing magma streams channeled through arc conduits. His eyes were closed. His hands lifted, fingers twitching in rhythmic pulses.And rising from the magma…A golem.No. Not just any golem.It had a face.A crown.It was modeled after Brown himself—only larger

  • Deadlands Border

    The scent of ash still lingered in the wind—thick, metallic, almost sentient. Brown knelt beside the half-buried wreck of a scouting tower, brushing aside soot with his gloved hand. The charred insignia was unmistakable: Valric’s personal mark. A crescent blade intersecting a fractured crown.He’s here. Somewhere. Still moving.Kael crouched beside him, scanning the treeline with a thermal lens. “No heat signatures. Not even wildlife.”“Exactly,” Brown muttered. “They cleared it.”The mission had been kept off-books. No banners, no comms, no extraction plan. Just Brown, Kael, and Clara—each sworn into silence.The intelligence had been smuggled from an anonymous contact in the Eastern Union—encrypted, dangerous, and riddled with inconsistencies. But one thing was clear: Valric had gone rogue. Again. Only this time, he wasn’t leading soldiers.He was building something.“Clara,” Brown called softly. “Find the source of this burn radius. Triangulate.”Clara’s fingers danced across her a

  • Midnight Session

    A sudden explosion rocked the ground nearby, sending shards of stone and earth into the air. Brown stumbled but recovered quickly, raising his blade to charge. The fire in his eyes burned brighter—not just with battle fury, but with the fierce hope that this war would not claim him before he could see peace again.As the sun threatened to rise beyond the mountains, Brown’s heart ached with a silent vow:For my kingdom… for my children… I will endure whatever darkness comes.But the battlefield whispered a grim truth—sometimes, the fiercest wars were fought within.The battle raged on until the first streaks of dawn crept across the blood-stained skies.Hours later, the clang of swords faded into an eerie silence. Smoke drifted over the scorched earth, and the cries of the wounded echoed across the broken plains. Brown stood at the ridge overlooking what remained of the enemy encampment—now a field of ash and ruin. His sword hung loosely at his side, its once-blazing edge dimmed with f

  • Meeting High Council

    A DayThe fire in the hearth flickered as Brown unfolded the ancient parchment once more. The ink was faded, but the message was clear—and chilling.“It wasn’t a random act,” Brown said slowly. “Someone orchestrated the breaking of the seal.”Kael stepped forward, his voice low and steady. “The emissaries we intercepted at the border—they carry the sigil of the Black Legion.”Clara’s eyes widened. “The Black Legion? But they were thought scattered after the last war.”Brown’s jaw tightened. “Not scattered. They’ve been regrouping. Strengthening. Waiting for the right moment.”Outside, the horizon burned with the first hints of dawn. But it was no peaceful sunrise.The borderlands between Berdiezland and the neighboring kingdom of Korvath were aflame once again. Skirmishes erupted daily—small raids that grew bolder, lines shifting, soldiers falling.Brown felt the weight of command settle heavy on his shoulders once more.The peace he had fought so hard to build was crumbling.“Orders

More Chapter
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on MegaNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
Scan code to read on App