Chapter 34: THE BONE BEAST
ELIRA APPEARANCE
And now—she faced the Bone Beasts, skeletal creatures that screeched like dying stars, rising from the earth beneath her.
Aria folded her hands and gritted her teeth, holding a jagged blade she’d stolen from a silent shrine days ago. She forgot she had the blades when she was fighting against the giant snake.
She looked at the Bone Beast, ready to break its bones in seconds.
“Come on, then,” she hissed. “I’ve faced worse,” she snarled.
As one lunged at her, a hand raised beside her—and it stopped mid-air, frozen by a whisper of ancient magic.
The air turned cold.
A woman stepped from between two trees, long robes fluttering like smoke, silver hair braided with black feathers. Her eyes glowed violet, old as the world.
“Wait, you old hag! What are you doing here?” Aria whispered.
The old lady nodded. “The veil between worlds is thinning. Damien bleeds. The wolves burn. And you—child of prophecy—have a choice to make,” she muttered.
Aria’s hands trembled. “What choice?” “Who's the child of prophecy?” she asked.
Many questions flooded her mind in seconds. “What are you talking about?” she asked the old lady.
The old lady stood in silence, not minding the multiple questions Aria asked.
“Since you won’t answer my questions, how do I get out of here? You tricked me!” she fired.
The old lady laughed menacingly. “Child, easy to return—and finish what you started. But know this: the path will not be merciful,” she replied.
She disappeared without a trace.
Behind Aria, the Bone Beasts howled again. The world trembled.
And Aria knew—there was no going back without blood.
The Bone Beasts shrieked again, their bones clattering like a thousand rusted chains. Aria turned, blade tight in her grip, jaw clenched. The old woman’s words echoed in her head, but she pushed them aside. Questions could wait. Survival could not.
She had to do anything to survive if she wanted to meet Damien again. “I need to survive, no matter what,” she whispered.
She looked up and stared at the fierce creature before her.
The creature lunged—jaw unhinged, ribs cracking with unnatural hunger.
Aria ducked, spun low, and drove the jagged blade upward into the beast’s spine. A shock of light burst through the skeleton, and the creature wailed as its bones cracked.
The beast opened up its belly, and smaller babies came out, and they grew immediately to the size of the Bone Beast.
She gasped and opened her mouth in shock. The first beast lunged at her—she threw her blade and stabbed it.
She watched its body disintegrate to ashes.
Another came at her, faster. This time, she didn’t wait.
She ran forward, leapt, and slashed the beast across its ribcage. The blade hummed, reacting to the dark magic animating them. The cut was enough. It crumbled in a heap of bone-dust.
One by one, she took them down—dancing through death, slicing through shrieks, until the last one fell with a groan that sounded like the cry of a dying world.
Panting, covered in grime and blood, Aria stood alone once again.
And then—the wind shifted.
Through the dense mist of this strange world, a track began to shimmer—faint golden light carving a path through the dark earth. It pulsed, like it had been waiting for her.
Aria approached slowly, her blade hung by her side. “Is this it?” she murmured, voice hoarse. “My way home?” she asked.
No answer came.
Only the wind—and the growing light.
She stepped forward.
\---
Back in the human world
Damien’s fingers twitched.
It had been days since the fight. The slash across his ribs, left by Dominic’s claws, still ached, but the worst was over. The fever was gone. His breathing had steadied. The pain, though still sharp, had dulled into something manageable.
But what lingered was the emptiness. The space where Aria should’ve been.
He lied down hopelessly like he wasn’t going to make it out of his distress. He looked up at the ceiling, but nothing comforting was there.
He blinked slowly as sunlight filtered through the window. A quiet knock at his door interrupted the stillness.
“Enter,” he rasped.
A healer stepped in, but behind her, someone else followed—the servant to Elira the witch.
Damien could recognize him the instant he entered through the door. He coughed, “What are you doing here?” he asked, without waiting for him to walk closer.
“She wants to see you before the council meeting,” he responded.
“Damien can’t go anywhere at the moment. He still needs time to recover,” the healer said.
The servant bowed and left without saying any more word.
“You can’t go anywhere right now,” the healer warned.
\---
Council Hall, Blackthorn Grounds
The meeting was tense. The air was thick with the scent of incense and suspicion. The Alpha Elders sat in silence as Elira walked the circle, trailing fingers along the carved stones.
“She’s returned,” she finally said, breaking the silence. “Aria.”
The room shifted—murmurs rose like a tide.
“Returned? From where?” one councilman barked.
Elira smiled thinly. “From a place not meant for mortals. The veil is cracking. She carries the storm now… and the curse is tied to her blood.”
Damien stood slowly from his place near the edge of the hall, voice low but commanding.
“If she’s back… I’ll find her,” Dominic fired.
Elira’s gaze landed on him. “You better. Before the other world finishes what it started,” she warned.
She didn’t say anything anymore and walked back to her seat.
\---
Elsewhere in the unknown world
The golden track faded behind Aria as she stepped through a shimmer of light—and landed in a forest she recognized.
Her knees buckled. The air smelled of pine, of wolf packs and moonlit rituals.
She was home.
But the howl that echoed in the distance wasn’t welcoming.
It was a warning.
She rose, wiped the blood from her blade, and started walking—toward the danger.
Toward the war waiting at her doorstep.
And with every step, the prophecy tightened around her like a noose.
There was no more running.
Only reckoning.
Only war.
Only the truth.