Blood of the Fallen

Chapter 8: The First Flame

The horn’s echo hadn’t faded before the courtyard erupted in motion.

Shouts rang out, boots pounded stone, and the black-flame braziers blazed higher, as if sensing the danger.

Kael grabbed Lyra’s arm, pulling her toward the inner keep. “Stay behind me.”

But before they reached the archway, a blast of silver light slammed into the outer gates, shaking the ground beneath their feet. The runes screamed yes, screamed as they strained against the impact.

Selene appeared, swords drawn, her braid whipping over her shoulder. “Court hunters,” she snarled. At least two dozen. And something bigger.

“Hold them,” Kael ordered. “I’ll”

“You’ll stay alive,” Selene snapped, already running toward the fight.

Kael cursed under his breath, pushing Lyra into a narrow passage. “You do not let go of my hand, understand?”

They burst into the courtyard just as the gates shattered inward. Figures cloaked in silver armor poured through, their eyes burning with inhuman hunger. Behind them, a massive shadow moved four-legged, horned, its form rippling like smoke.

Lyra froze. Her body screamed at her to run, but something else… something deep and ancient… stirred.

One of the hunters broke from the group, rushing them with a blade that glowed icy blue. Kael stepped forward, black fire exploding from his palm, swallowing the man whole. The heat of it licked at Lyra’s skin, but it wasn’t Kael’s flame that made her heart pound.

It was the pulse-a heavy, rhythmic thrum in her chest-that seemed to answer the chaos around her.

A second hunter lunged from the side, too fast for Kael to block. Lyra’s vision blurred and suddenly the air between them shattered in a burst of crimson light. The hunter was thrown back, his armor smoking where the light had touched.

Kael turned to her, eyes wide. “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” she stammered, her hands trembling. But the crimson glow still danced over her skin, whispering to her like it knew her name.

The horned beast roared, the sound shaking the stones. Kael stepped in front of her, his voice low and urgent. “Stay with me, Lyra. Whatever that was, we’ll figure it out later. Right now, you survive.”

And then he was gone, a streak of black flame cutting into the enemy lines, leaving her alone with the strange, terrifying truth…

Something inside her wasn’t human.