Ashes and Chains
The Severed Moon stood at the edge of the Pool of Unmaking, its monstrous form a shifting blend of shadow, bone, and something older than time. Its violet eyes flickered with twisted glee as they locked on Raine, who lay gasping and broken on the obsidian floor. Magic still pulsed through her, raw and blistering. Her soul bond to Ashryn—her child—had been severed. Her link, her light, her anchor… gone.
And now, the child was unprotected.
“You’ve made it so easy,” the Severed Moon hissed, stepping forward. His long, skeletal fingers dripped with black mist that turned the floor to ash with every touch. “No bond. No shield. Only a womb full of power waiting to be rewritten.”
Raine’s body screamed in protest as she pushed herself to her knees. Every part of her trembled f
