Chapter 71 – Half-Blood Truth
The dawn after the awakening felt wrong.
Too quiet. Too bright.
Mist curled over the valley like a living thing, swallowing what remained of the ruins. Flowers I had seen bloom last night had withered into ash. The scent of blood and moonfire lingered. Kaelen hadn’t spoken a word since his warning, and Lyra, sensing the tension, kept close to me but said little.
Every heartbeat echoed the same thought. What am I?
The question had always been there—whispered in the shadowed corners of my mind—but now it screamed, raw and merciless. I could still hear Elyndra’s voice from the night before, her words a brand burned into my soul:
“You have my gift, child. My curse.”
A gift that frightened everyone I loved. A curse I didn’t yet understand.
Kaelen stood at t
