Blood, Bone and Secrets

The shadows in the room seemed to stretch and shift, pulling at the edges of her vision like tendrils of smoke. She could still feel

, her feet frozen to the cold floor beneath her, her thoughts swirling in a disorienting fog. The words Draven had spoken, the cryp

breath was shallow, her heart thundering in her chest. She had to think. She had to focus. Her brother's disappearance, Arion's cry

had known too much, spoken with such authority. He was no mere creature. He was an ancient, powerful bei

He was gone now, pulled into a darkness far beyond her reach, and the only thing she had left were the threads he'd left be

but she knew they were important. They had to be. If she could just decipher them, she might find the answers she needed. B

il will

of her perception. As if the very air itself had shifted, bending under the weight of something ancient and unforgiving. And yet, the apartment-her sanctuary

ing herself to breathe de

re pulling the strings behind Arion's disappearance, were too dangerous to ignore. She needed to get a

ne person she co

s than anyone else. She had never trusted him fully cryptic words, his too-calm demeanor-but he had always been there whe

the nagging feeling that Draven was watching her, waiting for her to make the wrong move. But

leys. The city felt different now, as though the very ground she walked on was trembling beneath her feet. The

thing out there-something following her. She couldn't tell if it was just her paranoia or if there tr

ng around. It wasn't an animal, not by any stretch of the imagination. She could feel the magic in the air, the distort

er she went, the darker the streets became, until the warm glow of lanterns was nothing but

ws over the quiet square. She hesitated for a moment, staring up at the building. This was where she had always felt safe, where she had learned so much about the

ry smelled of old parchment and dust, the scent of knowledge long accumulated. Her footsteps echoed in

pernatural blurred. Shelves lined the walls, filled with ancient texts and forgotten tomes. In the center o

as though he had been expecting her. "I was

ed your help, Caius. Arion-he's gone. Disappea

" he said, his voice low and thoughtful. "It seems the piec

ht of the moment-the gravity of the situation pressing in

s is weakening," he said slowly. "Arion was right to be concerned. Bu

tightened. "Wha

d. "And when it begins to break, as it is now, the very fabric of reality is threatened. Creatures, b

spine. "And Draven? What part

ever walk the earth. He has been trying to manipulate the Nexus for centuries. He beli

Arion was right. He wa

n Draven," Caius said, his tone grave. "But now, the only way t

ed a beat. "How? H

ly then can it be sealed again. But time is running out. And there are force

her like a heavy cloak. She had no choice. She had to fi