Chapter 151 Hundred and fifty four

Chapter 151 Hundred and fifty four

“Ryder, get up.” Sienna’s voice broke through the thunder of the clearing as she grabbed his shoulders and tried to pull him to his feet, her palms slipping against the heat pulsing beneath his skin. “Do you hear me? You have to get up right now.”

“I can’t,” he managed, the sound low, strained, as if the curse had wrapped fingers around his throat and squeezed. His vision blurred, the world bending at the edges while the celestial beast prowled closer, its glow warping the air around it. “The curse… it’s locking my body down.”

“Then unlock it,” she snapped, dragging him back as the beast’s claws tore into the ground where he’d been a heartbeat before. Dirt and sparks exploded upward. “You think I’m leaving without you? You think I’m running into that sanctuary alone? No. Get up, Ryder. Move.”

“You have to go,” he rasped.

“And you have to stop telling me what to do,” she fired back, breathless with fury and fear as the beast let out a low, bone-shaking growl. “I’m not leaving you. I won’t.”

The beast lunged again, faster this time. Sienna shoved Ryder aside and spun, lifting her hand. Silver energy erupted from her palm, slicing through the air and smashing into the creature’s chest. The force was so violent it sent a shockwave rolling through the clearing, bending the grass flat and knocking several trees into shuddering silence.

“Move,” she hissed. “Now.”

Ryder forced his muscles to respond, pushing against the weight crushing his limbs. Every nerve screamed, the curse burning him from the inside out, but he clawed his way to his feet anyway, staggering as the beast shook off the blast and snarled at them both with a sound like metal grinding over stone.

“That was divine energy,” Ryder said through his teeth. “You shouldn’t be using that. It’s tearing you apart. I can feel it.”

“I don’t care,” she said. “I’m not losing you.”

“You will if you keep draining yourself like that.”

“And you’ll die if I don’t.”

The beast lunged a third time.

Ryder grabbed Sienna by the waist with a desperate burst of strength and spun them both aside as the beast’s claws carved a massive trench through the ground. The force of the movement sent them tumbling, his arm tightening around her as they rolled across the clearing and crashed against a fallen tree.

Sienna gasped, pushing herself up first. “You saved me.”

“You dragged me,” he muttered, breath unsteady. “It seemed fair.”

“Stand, Ryder,” she said again, this time softer, rawer.

He did.

Barely.

The beast crouched low, moonfire dripping from its jaws, ready to strike again.

“Listen to me,” Ryder said, stepping in front of her despite the tremor running through his legs. “It’s not after you. It’s after me. I’m draining you just by standing too close. If we fight it together, you’ll empty yourself and collapse before it’s even weakened.”

“I said I don’t care.”

“But I do,” he growled, turning his head slightly toward her while keeping his eyes on the beast. “I won’t let you die for me.”

“Then stop acting like you're already gone.”

A flicker crossed his face, pain, longing, a flash of something that felt like surrender and resistance tangled together.

The beast leapt.

Ryder reacted first, though the curse clawed at every muscle. He charged, meeting the beast head-on in a clash that shook the clearing. Silver sparks exploded as its jaw snapped inches from his throat. Ryder slammed his forearm beneath its chin, forcing its mouth upward as he twisted, using its momentum to drag it off course.

The creature thrashed, blinding light pouring from its bones as it roared, whipping its tail with enough force to send Ryder skidding back several feet.

“Ryder!” Sienna cried.

He stumbled, but stayed upright.

“I’m fine,” he lied, wiping blood from his split lip.

“Liar.”

“Then stop distracting me.”

“You’re dying, ”

“Not yet.”

The beast charged again.

Ryder braced,

But Sienna moved first this time, sliding beside him with her hand rising in a smooth, fluid motion. “Don’t argue,” she warned. “Just stay with me.”

Before he could react, she pressed her palm against his chest.

His heart jolted.

Her power surged.

Silver fire exploded outward, not from her hand but through the contact point between them. It poured through him like molten moonlight, flooding his veins, forcing the curse to recoil as if burned.

“What are you doing?” he gasped.

“Sharing strength.”

“Sienna, no, ”

“It’s mine to give,” she whispered. “And you’re mine to keep alive.”

The world burst into white.

The beast reared back, blinded, shrieking in a sound that split the night sky open. The divine fire wrapped around Ryder, sharpening his senses, strengthening his limbs, pushing back the curse until he felt his lungs open for the first time in days.

When the light faded, he stood straight.

Breathing freely.

Alive.

The beast looked between them, confused, threatened, furious.

Ryder exhaled. “Run.”

Sienna blinked. “What?”

“Run,” he repeated, voice steady now, more dangerous than the beast itself. “I’ll hold it.”

“You’re not staying alone, ”

“I’m not asking.”

She clenched her jaw. “You’re impossible.”

“Good,” he said. “Now move.”

She shook her head. “I’m not moving until, ”

The beast lunged at her, too fast.

Ryder didn’t think.

He moved.

He slammed into the beast mid-strike, grappling it with a strength he hadn’t felt since before the curse. They crashed through the underbrush, tearing into the earth, Ryder’s roar echoing through the trees as he forced the creature back.

“Ryder!” Sienna screamed.

But Ryder didn’t answer.

He fought.

He tore into the celestial monster with every ounce of his resurrected strength, silver fire erupting from his strikes as if her energy still lived inside him. The beast howled, struggling against the force, ripping trenches into the soil as it dug its claws for leverage.

“Ryder!” she called again.

Still no answer.

He was lost in the fight.

Not because he wanted to die.

But because he wanted her to live.

Sienna’s heart slammed against her ribs as she sprinted toward him, refusing to let the forest swallow him whole. She grabbed a fallen spear, left behind from some ancient battle, and ran with it burning silver in her grip, her power racing along the weapon like a living flame.

She reached the beast first.

She did not hesitate.

She drove the spear into its flank, the blade sinking into celestial bone as silver light blasted from the wound. The creature shrieked, stumbling, its glow flickering wildly.

Ryder broke from its grasp, chest heaving, eyes blazing with something fierce and proud and aching. “I told you to run.”

“And I told you I’m not leaving you,” she said. “Try listening sometime.”

The beast thrashed again.

Sienna grabbed Ryder’s hand.

“Now,” she whispered, “we end it.”

Together they drove the spear deeper, divine power exploding outward in a shockwave of light so bright it erased the world for a moment.

When sight returned, the celestial beast was collapsing, dissolving into silver dust.

Sienna and Ryder stood in the center of the fading glow, breathless, shaking, hands still locked.

And behind them,

The shadows shifted.

Something else was coming.