The moment we stepped out of the cabin, something felt off.
The air was thick, charges with an invisible force that prickled again my skin. A strange hur vibrated in my bones, a deep. rhythmic pulse that sent a shiver through me. My well stirred inside me, cars flattened, hackles raised. Something was coming
Then, with a deafening crack, the barrier shattered.
A wave of darkness surged forward, rolling toward us like a living storm. Shadows twisted and writhed, merging and separating. until grotesque forms took shape.
Umbrakins.
My stomach twisted with nausea. The creatures were as horrifying they were unnatural–beings of pure shadow, their burned flesh peeling away under the sun’s glore, revealing raw, bubbling matcle beneath. The stench of scorched meat filled the air.
Elijah stood rigid beside me, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his blade. “They don’t attack during the day,” he muttered. voice tinged with disbelief.
But here they were.
The Umbrakins screeched, a piercing, guttural sound that sent my pulse into overdrive. Their charred skin sizzled under the sun, but they didn’t retreat. They charged forward, their clawed fingers outstretched, their hollow, glowing eyes locked onto us.
They didn’t care that they were burning. They didn’t care that every step cost them pieces of their own
Пesh
“They’re not acting on instinct,” I realized aloud, my voice barely above a whisper. “They’re following orders.”
Before the words fully left my lips, an Umbrakin lunged.
Isaiah yanked me back just in time. Its clawed hand missed me by mere inches, slashing through empty air where my throat had been. I stumbled against him, my breath ragged.
“We have to move! Now!” Isaiah barked.
Selene stepped forward instead.
Her black–painted fingers moved in a blur, tracing ancient symbols in the air. A wall of blue fire erupted between us and the advancing harde, the flames roaring to life. The Umbrakins screamed as the fire consumed them, their bodies twisting, writhing. disintegrating into bubbling black ooze.
But more kept coming
They climbed over their fallen brethren, unrelenting, uncaring. They weren’t afraid. They weren’t stopping.
“They don’t care if they die.” Alex br
breathed, his voice trembling.
Selene turned sharply, eyes locking onto mine. “Run!”
I hesitated, my body screaming to fight, to stay by her side. But there was something in her eyes–something finall
Acceptance
She knew,
1/4
Chapter 157
She knew this vers coming,
I clenched my lists. My instincts, my pride, my very sout rebelled against it, but I turned and tan.
The ground shook beneath us as we sprinted toward the barn, every hotstep thundering in my ears. The Umbraking were closing in from all sides, their movements frantic, desperate,
Selene’s fire held them back, but it wouldn’t last forever.
Isaiah reached the barn first, throwing the doors open “Get in the che, now!”
The twins and Elijah piled in. I hesitated for only a heartbeat, glanding back.
Just in time to see Selene stumble.
Blood soaked her tunic, a dark stain blooming across her side. She dropped to one knee, her breathing ragged.
“No!” I surged forward, but Isaiah caught my arm and yanked me into the car.
Selene lifted her head, her lips curling into a wook, knowing smile. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. She mouthed something.
This is my destiny.
Then Isaiah hit the gas.
The engine roared as the tires kicked up dirt and debris. The barn doors exploded outward as we shot forward, the Umbrakins surging after us. Their clawed hands scraped against the metal, their bodies burning in the sunlight, but they didn’t stop.
A sickening thump echoed as one landed on the hood, its skeletal face pressing against the windshield. Its eyes burned with madness, its blackened teeth snapping at the glass.
Alex cursed, throwing out his hands, Spears of ice shot forward, impaling the creature through the chest. It shrieked, convulsing. before its body shattered into a mist of darkness.
More lunged at us.
“They’re desperate,” Isaiah growled, jerking the wheel to avoid another impact. “They’re being pushed beyond their limits.”
Another one landed on the roof, its claws scraping against the metal. Elijah twisted in his seat, pulling a dagger from his belt, and drove it straight through the creature’s head. It collapsed with a final screech, its body crumbling into dust.
But they just kept coming.
I turned back just in time to see Selene collapse, her hands falling lampply to her sides. Her last spell flickered out.
The Umbrakins swarmed her.
A scream tore from my throat.
But then-
The edge of the cliff.
The car launched into the air.
2/4
Chapter 157
For a single heartbeat, time setched Impossibly thin. The wind road around us. The ground disappeared beneath us.
We were Calling–but we weren 1.
Austin screamed. “WE’RE GONNA DIEF
The sky warped.
Reality twisted, stretched, bent like a rippling veil. Light and shadow swirled together, stars streaking past us as if we’d been launched into the void.
Alex clutched the seat so tightly his fingers left deep imprints in the leather. “Are we dead? Did we just–1
“No.” Elijah said sharply, his eyes scanning the shifting sky. “We’re weling. This is magic.
I felt it too. The hum of power in my veins, the way the energy
pipped around us like unseen threads,
But it wasn’t like any magic I’d ever felt before.
It was ancient. Deep.
Then-
The car slammed onto solid ground.
The impact jolted me violently. I gasped as we skidded sideways, the tires screeching against stone.
Silence.
My pulse thundered in my ears. My hands trembled.
Alex groaned, clutching his stomach. “I’m gonna be sick.”
Isaiah was the first to react. He threw open the driver’s side door and stepped out, his muscles tense, his posture rigid.
I followed. My boots crunched against rough, uneven stone.
The moment I took in my surroundings, my breath caught in my throat.
We weren’t on the road anymore…
We were standing in the middle of an ancient
t ruin.
Towering stone pillars rose around us, covered in intricate carvings that pulsed faintly with an eerie, silver–blue glow. The air here was thick, heavy with magic, tinged with something old–something watching.
-Austin stumbled out of the car, his wide eyes scanning the ruins. “Where the hell are we?”
exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing as i studied the carvings. “This… This isn’t just any ruin. This place is…” I trailed off, my expression darkening.
