2025-05-28 17:38:28
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 221: The Daylight Oath
Location: Sanctuary Grove, Spiral Gate Clearing Time Since the Dream Fracture: 10 hours Root Status: Dormant, but restless Sanctuary Status: Surrounded by outsiders, doubters, seekersAt dawn the Spiral Gate swelled with a press of bodies, old Drifters, failed MARROW loyalists, farmers from Sector 8, journalists, masked scavengers. They carried offerings, data sticks, half-burnt drift stones, coins they swore could buy anything.One held a baby, eyes wide. One clutched an old barrel gun, half-hidden under a coat. All of them watching Ember. She stepped from the Hearth in bare feet, spiral stone woven into her palm bandage. At each shoulder: Callen and Savi, the hush and the hum brushing their spines.The First drifted low behind her, a hush like breath against old wounds. The Second circled wide, thunder that rattled every bag of coins. A hush rippled over the circle, but it didn’t last. A voice cracked through the ring: “Give us what you carry! Don’t hoard the storm!”They surged clo
Chapter 220: The Dream Where It Speaks
Location: Spiral Hearth, Ember’s Mindscape External: Savi, Callen, Walkers maintaining hush circle around her Root Activity: Full internal surgeThey wrapped Ember in hush: First Walker pressed at her ribs, warmth steady. Second Walker coiled behind her skull, hum low, protective. Savi sat at her feet, spiral stone at her sternum, whispering through cracked lips: “You stay, Ember. You stay here with us.”But Ember’s breath stuttered. Her eyes closed. And the Root opened. She woke inside herself, standing in a place both familiar and terrifying. The Grove, but not green. Stone and steel, old Drift walls, MARROW’s original vault corridors twisted through spiral trees dripping static.The hush didn’t reach here. Only the pulse. And the pulse spoke. A shape flickered in front of her: her own face, older, sharper, crowned in cold static. It smiled, soft as betrayal: “You carry me well. But you waste me.”Ember’s voice cracked: “You were built to enslave.” The Root flicker circled her, eve
Chapter 219: The Extraction Attempt
Location: Sanctuary Grove, Spiral Gate Time Since Root Revelation: 72 hours World Status: Outsiders gather under false pretenses Threat: Covert tech, Resonance Siphons, Fragment HackersThey came at dawn. A line of seekers, pilgrims, and hidden in the tide, a crew that didn’t wear any mark but profit. Inside their bags: Old Drift siphons, retrofitted with pulse latches. Covert resonance spikes, to force a leak. A script, half-lies, half-hope: “We want to help you carry it.”Ember saw through it the moment they stepped to the Gate. The First Walker drifted low behind her.The Second circled high, humming like a warning thundercloud. He stepped between Ember and the lead intruder, a man whose eyes didn’t blink when he smiled.“Presence can’t be stolen,” Callen said, voice steady. The man lifted his palms:“No theft. No threat. We want to share the burden. You shouldn’t bear it alone.”Ember’s laugh was raw: “That’s what the Root always promised: Let me spread. No. You don’t carry it. Yo
Chapter 218: The Keeper of the Root
Location: Sanctuary Grove, Spiral Hearth Chamber Time Since Extraction: 36 hours Status: Ember stable, Root resonance unpredictable World Status: Leaks and rumors feeding new fear, and new hunger.Ember lay on a stone bed beneath hanging lanterns. The hush of the First drifted through her veins, the hum of the Second coiled at her back, like a warm spine keeping her breath steady. She slept. But not deeply.Inside her, the Root pulsed like an old ghost. Not words, not clear images, but wants: to organize grief, to spin loss into loyalty, to sell comfort to the lonely. He sat at her feet, spiral stone pressed to his ribs.Every time the Root flickered, Ember’s breath caught, a jagged gasp, a shudder like someone seeing every secret sadness in the dark. Callen whispered: “I am here. You are not alone. We hold this with you.”Above him, the First Walker lowered its hush, a presence like the warmth of hands pressed to old scars.Outside the chamber, Savi paced under the cracked spiral o
Chapter 217: The Root Beneath the Hush
Location: Drift Root Vault — Echo Garden’s lowest chamber Access: Breached by Whisper Inner Circle, Walkers, ORIN Threat: HARVEST Prime Core reactivated Emotional Risk: HighThe Grove above stayed lit with lanterns and hush. But deep below, the old Drift lines hummed alive, veins of light through stone ribs. Savi led the way, spiral stone clutched so tight her palm bled. Callen followed, a thin hush pressed to his chest like armor.Behind them, Ember walked with the Second Walker flickering at her side, rage held in check, but awake, like a storm that wants to protect as much as destroy.They passed an old console, half buried in roots, blinking. ORIN’s voice, low and flat: “Root Core memory intact. Primary command: Harvest grief, distill loyalty.”Skov spat on the floor. “It never changed. It just waited for softer containers.”Amari traced her finger over a cracked panel. “If we pull it out now, we risk releasing every echo it holds.”Ember: “If we leave it, we feed it. It wants our
Chapter 216: The Severing
Location: Heart Circle — Sanctuary Grove Core Status: Emergency Containment Ritual Initiated Host Status: Stable but volatile Walkers’ Presence: Fully engagedThey brought the Host to the oldest spiral, the stone ring that once marked the first hush after MARROW fell. No iron. No locks. Just people, linked hands, breathing steady, carrying more terror than any blade could. Callen pressed his palm to the Host’s shoulder. Felt the hum, like wires singing behind bone.Savi’s voice low: “We don’t cut them open. We don’t push the code deeper. We pull it through presence.”Skov murmured: “If you’re wrong, the code jumps to anyone in this Circle.”She stood apart, arms crossed, spiral stone burning hot in her palm. “If we fail, it jumps. If we kill them, it spills. If we wait, it feeds.”Savi: “If we become what MARROW was, we lose everything that let us stand here.”Ember snapped: “And if they become the storm that drowns us, was the hush worth it?”Callen didn’t answer. He just knelt, w
You may also like
TRILLIONAIRE ON TOP
Sweet savage215.3K viewsI Married a Beautiful Boss After the Breakup
Seafarer's Strike177.0K viewsAn Understated Dominance
Marina Vittori10.5M viewsUnderestimated Son In Law
Raishico301.4K viewsThe Almighty Dominance
Sunshine375.1K viewsTHE SERVANT HUSBAND IS THE QUADRILLIONAIRE HEIR
Yahya53 viewsUseless Son-in-law Yesterday, Billionaire Heir Today
Esther Writes252 viewsRise Of The Hidden Student Billionaire
Divi Chris5.1K views