Chapter 11
As Thorne stepped out from the moonlit sanctuary, the cold night wind greeted him with a silence too deep. The ancient runes carved along the stone corridor pulsed faintly, their light dimmed now that the soul–binding ritual had ended.
Just beyond the threshold stood Theo. He lingered in the shadows, his expression stiff. “Is Mother dead?” he asked, not looking Thorne in the eye.
Thorne paused for a long beat before answering, “She will return in a few days.”
Theo didn’t reply. He stepped past Thorne into the Sanctum of Echoes, where Selene’s body lay under woven soulcloth. Even prepared as he was, Theo went pale the moment he saw her. His lips trembled, but he said nothing. Then he turned and ran.
Within the Luna Healing Hall, Marina stirred from the fusion sleep, her body newly infused with Selene’s life force. She placed her hand over her chest, where the heart now pulsed steadily. Her brows knit with uncertainty
“So… I’m normal now? Like the others?”
Thorne gave a silent nod.
Tears welled in Marina’s eyes. She turned to the High Matron and her parents, who gathered at her bedside. “Thank you, all of you… Thank you for saving me.”
The chamber was filled with celebration, relief heavy in the air.
Then Marina blinked, looking around. “Where is Selene? She must be thrilled. I want to tell her myself.”
Thorne’s jaw clenched slightly.
Cedric snorted. “That one? Who knows where she vanished to? Ever since your ritual began, she hasn’t shown her face once. Always playing the outcast.”
A faint gleam flickered in Marina’s gaze. But she still asked, gently, “Do you think s
Ishe’s upset with me?”
Thorne didn’t answer. Even he could not speak the full truth aloud: Selene, as they knew her, no longer existed.
That night, under the thin crescent moon, Cedric stepped outside the Healing Hall for a smoke of twilight moss. He caught sight of a young apprentice spirit keeper tidying up the now–vacated guest chamber.
“Where’s the guest who stayed here?”
The apprentice shrugged. “No idea. I was just assigned to cleanse the room. There was a paper left behind, though. Thought it might belong to her kin.”
The Elder took it casually. His eyes fell upon the faded parchment–a Luna Sigil Harmony Scroll..
The sigils upon it pulsed faintly.
Names etched in lunar ink: Selene Nightbloom/Marina Nightbloom–Soul Compatibility: Perfect.
The elder’s hand began to shake.
His breath caught. The ashes from his moss pipe spilled onto the floor.
He turned, slowly, each memory crashing back. The countless runic tests Selene had endured. The stray scrolls she dropped. The pale body under the souleloth, hand marked with the Silver Moonbirth.
With trembling legs, he pushed toward the Sanctum of Stillness.
He stumbled through the threshold–and there, atop the moonstone bler, lay Selene.
Unmoving.
The sigil on her chest had ропе
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Chapter 11
Cedric collapsed to his knees.
Thorne arrived moments later, catching the elder before he fell completely.
“She… she gave it all? You let her? You took it from her?!”
The old man’s voice cracked as he shouted, eyes bloodshot.
‘Thorne didn’t deny it.
The elder pounded a fist into his chest. “You said you’d found a soul match! A source blessed by the Moon! You said it wasn’t her!”
Thorne murmured, voice low. “Marina was dying. The Moonseal within her was collapsing. Selene’s was the only one that could
stabilize it.”
“So you offered her up? Like a relic? She was your mate!”
Thorne looked the old man in the eye. “It was the only way. If the choice had been yours, would you have let Marina die?”
Silence.
The elder looked away. The
But his silence was answer enough.
