Chapter 20: Bloodline Echoes
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Aric Blackthorn staggered, his chest heaving like a bellows hammered by the gods themselves. His breath tore through him in ragged, uneven bursts, and his heart pounded so violently it felt as though it might rupture his ribs and claw its way free from his chest.
He stood there, unmoving, eyes locked on the still-smoking corpse of the creature he had just slain.
“I did it.”
The thought came unbidden, dazed and feral. His body shook with aftershock, not from fear, but disbelief. Disbelief that somehow, impossibly, he had survived.
Not just survived — won.
The Sovereign’s past missions had thrown him into combat with horrors far beyond his league, relentless Grade Ones that had nearly carved him to shreds each time. And each time, he had limped away on
