Chapter Thirty — Blood Crown

The silence after Nyeredzi's capture was worse than the fight itself.

Kael knelt by the riverbank, fingers curling into the wet earth, nails digging trenches through mud and shattered roots. His breathing was ragged, chest rising too fast, heart caught between fury and terror.

The others stood in a loose circle, each one battered, blood drying in streaks across skin and armor.

Dendera's shield hand trembled, the bond to his Elephant Totem still frayed from the Chidawo's touch. Tafara leaned against a crooked tree, ribs screaming with every breath, but his Baboon Totem's wild spirit refused to let him collapse. Ranga's hyena laugh had died, leaving only clenched fists and a split lip.

And Liora — Liora stood at the edge of the water, her spirals flickering weakly, the Manjuzu's presence faint, barely there. For the first time, the water spirit wasn't answering her.

The circle was broken.

Kael didn't move for a long time.

It was Liora who broke the silence, her voice softer than the river.

"They didn't come to kill us."

Kael's fists clenched harder, knuckles white. "They took her."

"They took her," Liora agreed, "because she's the key to seeing what's coming." She stepped closer, her shadow crossing Kael's back. "But you're the key to stopping it."

Kael's shoulders shook. "I couldn't even protect her."

"You're not just a protector," Dendera rumbled, voice low and steady despite the pain. "You're our center."

Kael shook his head. "I didn't ask for this."

"No," Ranga wiped blood from his mouth, "but the land did."

Kael's head snapped up. "What?"

Tafara's laugh was softer than usual, but no less sharp. "You think all this just happened? We found each other — outcasts, rogues, running from Murenga, from Vhuramu, from our own damn pasts — and somehow, we ended up here. Alive. Together."

"We don't make sense," Liora added, her spirals brightening for a heartbeat. "A Baboon Totem warrior and a Lion Totem heir shouldn't amplify each other's power — they should clash. A Hyena Totem should never sync with an Elephant Totem — that's predator and prey. And me?" She shook her head. "I don't even belong to the Totem Cycle."

Kael looked around the circle, his heart pounding louder than the river. Each of them was different — elemental forces that should have canceled each other out. Instead, every fight, every clash, had only made them stronger.

Dendera's earth-binding had grown more resilient when fighting beside Tafara's chaotic movements. Ranga's wild strikes had somehow always synced with Kael's precise, measured attacks. And Nyeredzi — her sight had stretched farther and clearer when Liora's water-touched senses were near.

They weren't just a band of rogues.

They were a network.

Spirits feeding each other strength — rewriting Totem Law with every battle.

"They took Nyeredzi," Liora said softly, "because they know she's the Seer — but they also know something else."

Kael met her eyes, his voice a low growl. "What?"

Liora's spirals shifted into something older — glyphs none of them could read, but all of them could feel.

"She's not just the Seer of the Bloodbound." Liora's voice echoed with the Manjuzu's whisper. "She's the only one who can guide the King."

Kael froze.

"You don't get it yet," Liora's fingers hovered above the water. "The Bvuri aren't just spirits of chaos. They're bound by something — by someone. The only way to seal them, the only way to stop them from consuming every Totem spirit in this land…"

She stepped closer, her hand resting on Kael's shoulder.

"…is for the Lion King to wear the Crown of Blood."

Kael's heart hammered in his chest. "I'm not—"

"You are," Dendera said, his voice unshaking. "The Crown isn't just Murenga's title. It's the bond between the land, the totems, and the Veil itself. When the Bvuri rise, only the true King can close the gate."

Tafara grinned, wincing at his ribs. "Guess who the land picked."

Kael's stomach turned. Every prophecy, every whispered tale of the Bvuri's return — it had always circled back to one figure. The Lion-born, the one who stood at the gate between spirit and flesh, the one whose bloodline carried the right to command all Totems.

It wasn't just a birthright.

It was a sacrifice.

The King didn't rule.

The King held the door shut with his soul.

"If the King falls," Liora whispered, "the Bvuri walk free."

Kael's breath shook. "If I become King… I lose myself."

"Not if we hold you," Ranga said, stepping forward. "That's why we exist, Kael. We're not just here to fight beside you."

Tafara grinned. "We're here to anchor you."

Liora's spirals flared, the water around her shifting into fleeting forms — a lion, a baboon, a hyena, an elephant — and finally, a swirling owl, Nyeredzi's spirit mark.

"We amplify each other," Liora said. "Because the Crown is too heavy for one person."

Kael's throat tightened. He saw it now — why their powers had grown in sync, why they could push past limits even Chidawo feared.

They weren't just warriors.

They were the Crown's Circle.

The Bloodbound were not a rebellion.

They were the King's Last Chain — the only thing standing between Kael and the Bvuri tearing his soul apart to escape.

"If we fail," Dendera's voice was calm, certain, "the land falls."

Kael stood slowly, the weight of the truth settling onto his shoulders. The earth beneath his feet felt different now — not just dirt and stone, but a living thing, watching him, waiting for him to claim what was already his.

"I'm not ready," he whispered.

Tafara grinned, wincing again. "Neither are we."

Ranga spun a spear, shoulders cracking. "Doesn't mean we stop."

Liora's spirals settled into steady light. "The Chidawo have Nyeredzi. They think taking the Seer breaks the Circle."

Dendera's shield planted into the earth with a heavy thud. "They don't know what we are."

Kael closed his eyes, feeling the weight — but beneath it, the bond. Each spirit beside him, feeding into his own. Each broken piece making the whole stronger.

"We're getting her back," Kael said, voice low, steady.

"And then?" Liora asked.

Kael's eyes opened, golden light flickering at the edges.

"Then I take my crown."

The river ran beside them, the sky hanging heavy with stormlight.

And somewhere, far below the earth, the Bvuri stirred.

The King had been named.

And the gate would soon open.