Chapter 77 Seventy Seven
Chapter 77 Seventy Seven
WALTER’S POV
The fall feels endless with the darkness swallowing us whole as we tumble through the crumbling earth and jagged stone.
I reach out blindly for Lila, my fingers brushing against her hand for a split second before we’re slammed apart by a sharp rock outcrop.
My bad leg cracks against something solid, and white-hot pain explodes up in my thigh, sending me spiraling into a never-ending blackness for a heartbeat.
When I hit the ground, it’s a soft, damp earth with thick moss breaking my fall. I gasp for breath, my lungs burning as I struggle to push myself up on my elbows while squinting through the gloom.
The cavern we’ve landed in is vast, stretching high above us where slivers of sunlight pierce through the collapsed ceiling.
Water was dripping from somewhere in the distance while echoing off the stone walls that's covered in old carvings I can barely make out in the dim light.
“Lila!” I shout, my voice sounded rough and hoarse, intense pain shoots through my leg as I try to shift my weight, and I see fresh blood seeping through my torn trousers.
“Lila, where are you?”
“Over here!” The sound of her voice comes from across the cavern, it's shaky but clear.
I crawl toward the sound, using my arms to pull myself forward since my leg won’t bear my weight, not that it matters anymore.
The silver poison is gone, purged by her light, but the old injury still screams at me when I push too hard.
I find her huddled against a wall, with her dress torn and dirty, but her eyes are wide with wonder as she stares at the carvings that's covering the rock face beside her. She doesn’t look like she was scared, she looks transfixed.
“Walter,” she breathes, not turning her head.
“Look at this. It’s… it’s us. All of us. The Star Born and her Alpha.”
I drag myself closer while I managed to bear the pain of my palms scraping raw against rough stone.
The carvings are deep and they're etched into the rock with tools that must have been forged centuries ago.
They show figures that could be us, the golden-haired women standing beside the dark-haired men with silver streaks in their hair with their hands joined as golden light blazes between them.
Other carvings show battles, dark magic clashing with starlight, and at the center of it all… the same silver dagger that slipped from Lila’s grasp in the fall.
“It’s the same weapon,” I murmur, tracing a carving of the dagger with my finger.
“The one that was supposed to sever the bindings.”
“And there,” Lila points to a section of the wall where the carving splits into two paths.
“One path shows the Star Born choosing her Alpha, the light spreading through the pack and healing everything in its wake. The other...” She trails off, her voice tight with dread.
“The other shows her choosing to save the pack instead, breaking the bond to destroy the darkness. But look what happens to her Alpha.”
I follow her gaze. In the second carving, the man falls to his knees and his body fading like smoke as the woman stands alone, surrounded by light but looking hollow and empty.
“The bond is tied to both our lives now,” I say quietly.
“If she breaks it to save the pack, he dies. If she keeps it to save him, the pack falls with Draven.”
Heavy sounding footsteps echo from above us, then suddenly Draven’s voice booms down through the hole in the ceiling, dripping with malice:
“Did you think falling would save you? The cavern won’t protect you forever! I’ve already sent my men to the estate and by the time you crawl your way out, everything you love will be ash! So choose wisely, Star Born... and choose fast!”
I push myself up, gritting my teeth against the pain in my leg. Even without the silver and with her light purifying me, I’m still crippled.
Still broken in ways that can’t be fixed by just magic alone. But I won’t let her see me that way, not now.
“We have to get back up there,” I say, scanning the cavern walls for a way out.
“Find the dagger and finish this.”
Lila stands slowly while brushing dirt from her dress. Even though her hands are trembling, her eyes still look steady with determination as they meet mine.
“Walter… what if the carvings are wrong? What if there’s another way? A way to save both you and the pack?”
Before I can answer, a low rumble shakes the cavern. Dust started raining from the ceiling, and chunks of stone begin to fall around us.
From the far end of the cavern, I catch a glimpse of a dark mist seep out of a narrow tunnel, and I smell the scent of blood and silver. Draven’s warriors are pouring into the cavern to flush us out.
“Lila, move!” I shout, pushing her behind me even as my leg gives out again. I reach for the sword at my hip, but it’s gone, lost in the fall. All I have is my bare hands and the rage burning in my chest.
The mist clears, and Draven’s second-in-command steps into view, he's a tall man scarred, with eyes glowing violet in the dim light. Behind him, more warriors emerge with their silver blades glinting.
“The Alpha who can’t even stand,” the warrior sneers, circling us slowly.
“How pathetic. Draven says to bring you both to him or bring him your heads. I think I’ll choose the latter.”
He lunges forward, his blade aimed straight at Lila’s heart. I throw myself in front of her, feeling the steel slice across my shoulder as I knock her aside.
A searing pain blinds me for a moment, but when I look up, I see Lila standing tall with her hands raised as golden light begins to pour from her palms, this does not seem wild and uncontrolled like before, it looks steady and focused.
She’s starting to understand her power. But as the light blazes brighter, I feel the bond between us pulse with a dangerous warning and through it, I sense Draven’s magic reaching out, feeding on her power even as she uses it to fight.
And in the shadows of the cavern, I see something that makes my blood run cold, a figure was standing at the tunnel mouth, holding the silver dagger we thought was lost.
It’s Nora. She escaped the cells, and she’s smiling as she raises the blade high, aiming it not at Draven’s men… but at the support pillar holding up the cavern ceiling.
“YOU WANT A CHOICE?” she screams, her voice echoing off the stone.
“HERE’S YOUR CHOICE SAVE HIM, SAVE THE PACK, OR SAVE YOURSELF!”
She drives the dagger into the pillar, and the entire cavern shakes as cracks spiderweb across the ceiling.