Chapter 16 — The Choice Between Blood and Bone
Darkness breathes.
Lyra lies still at the bottom of the pit, chest heaving, every muscle screaming as dust settles around her. The air is cold here—old. It smells of stone, rot, and something metallic beneath it all.
Blood.
Her heart slams as she shifts, pain slicing through her shoulder, but her arms tighten instinctively around her daughter.
She’s crying now.
A thin, frightened sound that cuts deeper than any wound.
“I’ve got you,” Lyra whispers, forcing her voice steady. “I won’t let her take you. I swear it.”
Above, footsteps scrape against stone.
Selene drops down lightly, landing a few paces away with predatory grace. No injury slows her now. No weakness shows.
Only anticipation.
“You always did cling to vows,” Selene says sof
