All Chapters of Bloodmoon Rising: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

“Why Zevran?” I asked, already moving. Rhydian kept pace with me as we pushed through the thick woods. “Think about it,” he said. “His third form already manifested. We got the message before anyone else. He’s the only one who’s fully surfaced, they’ve confirmed that.” “So he’s proof of concept,” Malek chimed in from behind. “He’s our first solid data point,” Rhydian said. “And he’s by himself. No pack, no relay protection, nothing except his mother’s family two hours east, and they aren’t fighters.” He shot me a glance. “If they want to study what just happened to Tomas, they’ll pick someone isolated.” “So Zevran’s the easiest target on the continent right now,” I finished. We ran. The old-growth faded sooner than I expected. The trees thinned, the saplings shot up, the sky grew wide overhead. I could feel the hum of the confluence ground dying away behind us, that tight, resonant pressure slipping back to the ordinary woods. Part of me knotted with the loss, but it didn’t matt

Nobody moved. The crack in the ground just sat there, wider than it was a second ago. And whatever had looked back through it, I couldn’t make sense of it. No shape, nothing solid. It was there, but only in that way a shadow hangs around your peripheral vision. Try to focus, and it’s gone. “Did everyone see that?” Malek said. His usual confidence was gone. “Yeah,” Soren answered. Vael dug her fingers tighter into Tomas’s shoulders. “It’s pulling harder,” she said. “Something on the other side knows the door’s open wider than it’s ever been.” I glanced at the woman next to the vehicle, the one who’d called this a demonstration and watched Zevran’s whole performance with awe. Now she was backing away from the symbol, phone dangling at her side, eyes locked on the crack with a look that had finally killed her curiosity for good. “You knew this was possible,” I said. “When you agreed to my conditions. You knew this would happen if we left.” “I knew the theory,” she breathed. “Theor

Rhydian's hand was still holding mine. I opened my eyes. We were back in the confluence clearing, but everything had shifted. The symbol carved into the ground had disappeared, just smooth earth where the lines used to be. The cables lay forgotten in the grass. And gold light flooded in from nowhere I could see, falling through the trees, in the air, over the people. Vael knelt in the grass. So did Tomas. The woman who came in the vehicle had dropped her phone and was covering her mouth, trembling. Even the wolves had sunk to the ground, the light washing over them, soaking into their fur the same way I watched it settle into Tomas before. Now, it was happening everywhere. "It's everywhere," Soren said, turning in a slow circle. "Not just here." Malek stared at his phone, hands shaking. "Aldric's relay. All three hundred wolves. They're……" He looked up, stunned. "They're all feeling it. At once. Just like Tomas. Just like Zevran." Rhydian helped me up. My legs worked, but everyth

The sound swept over the clearing, and the gold light just, flinched. There’s no better word for it. Thousands of shimmering pieces hanging in the air jerked inward all at once, the way flames shrink from a sudden gust. Every wolf turned east, toward the line where the sky had split open. Malek’s voice was tight. "Tell me that’s not what I think it is." "It’s exactly what you think it is." The lead figure stayed in the shadows at the treeline, but something about the way it stood shifted, sharper, less patient now. "When the door opened, it didn’t just bring memories back. It broke down the stuff the network used to keep everything else contained." "You said the network hid things in people," I said. "Stuff from… elsewhere." "From where we started," the figure answered. "A long time ago, something got out. We built a whole system to contain it, buried bits of it in bloodlines all over this continent, spread so thin that no single piece could do much. The suppression that kept your

“Still alive,” Malek said. “Just confirming.” “Still alive,” Soren echoed. “Rhydian,” I called. “Here.” The white cleared. The world came back, the shape in the east was just gone. No voice, no pressure in the bond, nothing. Twelve figures waited at the treeline. None of them moved or spoke. The silence was deep, heavy, everyone waiting for someone else to trust it first. “Did it work?” Malek asked. “Something worked,” Vael answered. “Whether it’s what you meant….” He cut her off. “Did it?” She met his gaze. “The dark thread stopped moving. Whatever was reaching for it, I can’t feel it.” “That’s not the same as gone,” Rhydian said. “No,” she agreed. “It isn’t.” I looked at the leader. “Tell me what happened.” Quiet. Malek shifted, arms crossed, his ‘about to speak but hasn’t yet’ look. “You were right,” the figure said at last. “About what it was.” “Say it clearly,” I said. “The thing after the dark thread was the other half,” it said. “The half we split off four hundre