Chapter 18 – Half-Soul Mourning

The acrid scent of charred wood and spent magic hung heavy over the fractured gorge as reinforcements from Fenris and the Free Human Republic finally surged into the blasted canyon. Smoke curled in the air, drifting past ruined siege engines and splintered crates. Sera Hudson lay across Cain Elvis’s broad back, bound to him by the last of her strength—but the bond between them had grown dangerously thin.

Every breath she drew rasped like wind through hollowstone. Her once-vibrant cheek glowed pale beneath a sheen of sweat; her chest rose and fell in ragged half-heartbeats. Through their Vow-Blood bond, Cain felt each falter in her pulse as if his own life were unspooling—pain flaring in his veins with every labored gasp she took.