Chapter 25: The Ruins of Varein
The world beyond Bloodline Keep was changing.
The air itself trembled, charged with something ancient and hungry. The moon hung low and red, its light bleeding across the clouds like a wound that refused to close.
Kairo walked ahead, silent, his cloak snapping behind him in the cold wind.
Kaelen followed close, his blade at his hip, his eyes scanning the shadows that seemed to move of their own accord.
They had been walking for two days through wasteland and mist, following the shard’s pull—a faint hum in Kairo’s chest that pointed them south, toward the valley where the world had first cracked.
Kaelen broke the silence. “You’ve been quiet since the Keep.”
Kairo didn’t look back. “Because I don’t know which voice is mine anymore.”
Kaelen frowned. “Yo
