Chapter 38 The Crown Of Ashes

• The mountains burned behind us.
• Every step we took, smoke followed — the last breath of a dying city. The Council’s Hunters hadn’t stopped chasing since the Blood Moon rose. Their shadows moved like ghosts across the ridges, guided by magic older than the kingdom itself.
• Lucien led the way, blade drawn, his shirt torn and streaked with ash. I followed close, clutching the crimson shard I’d stolen from the Moonwell — the last fragment of the Heir’s heart.