Chapter 327: Blood And Bones
Adeline moved as quietly as she could, trying to retrace her steps, but everything looked the sa. The stone walls and dimly lit halls stretched on forever, and her heart started to race. She needed to get out fast. Just when she thought she was making progress, her foot caught on a loose stone.
She stumbled forward, barely catching herself by pressing a hand against the wall. The impact made a dull thud that echoed down the hallway. Her eyes widened. For a second, there was silence—then she heard the sound of boots approaching.
"Great," she muttered under her breath, panic setting in. A group of guards must have heard the noise. She didn’t have much ti to think. If she fought them, it would get loud, and the people in the grand hall would definitely notice. If she ran, they’d still sound the alarm, but at least she’d have a chance to get away and find Aaron and Layla.
She clenched her fists, made her decision, and bolted down the hallway. Her footsteps echoed as she ran, heart pounding in her ears. She turned a corner and spotted a door. She rushed to it and yanked the handle—locked.
"Of course," she whispered, exasperated.
She pressed her palm against the keyhole, took a deep breath to steady herself, and let her holy power flow. The light ford and reshaped itself like liquid tal, filling the keyhole until it clicked open. She slipped inside quickly and shut the door behind her, careful not to make any noise.
She crouched low and pressed her eye to the keyhole, holding her breath. A few seconds later, the guards rushed past the hallway, their voices overlapping.
"Did you hear that?""Check the other end!"
They kept going, unaware she was right behind the door. Adeline stayed still, forcing herself to stay quiet even though her lungs burned to take a deep breath. She waited until their footsteps faded before slowly relaxing her shoulders.
That was close. Too close.
Adeline slowly straightened up and took a careful look around. The room wasn’t empty—it was soone’s space. She could feel it. There was a strange, heavy pressure in the air, the kind that made her skin crawl.
Her holy power had definitely attracted attention, anyone who dealt in forbidden magic would sense it like a flare in the night. She needed to be more careful. Those guards were not going to leave that easily. She had to wait it out.
She pulled back her holy power and instead focused on the faint crackle of lightning that ran through her fingertips. A soft glow sparked to life, bright enough to light the room without drawing too much attention.
What she saw made her chest tighten. The place was a ss. The bed was flipped on its side, the sheets shredded. Pieces of furniture were broken and scattered everywhere, as if soone had either been searching for sothing or had fought to get out.
Chains lay snapped on the floor, but so were still bolted to the walls. Scratches covered the stone, so deep enough to draw blood.
"This wasn’t just a storage room..." she whispered
She crouched down and examined the small items on the floor. A torn ribbon, hair ties, and a cracked mirror with a few strands of long hair stuck in it. There were clothes too—feminine, delicate, completely out of place in such a dark and oppressive room. It beca clear to her that soone, a girl, had been living here... And not by choice.
Her heart sank. Whoever stayed here had fought hard to escape or had been dragged out. Adeline stood and ran her hand along the wall, noticing faint traces of resistance burned into the stone—whoever held the girl here didn’t just imprison her physically, they wanted to break her ntally as well.
Adeline carefully moved deeper into the room, her footsteps light against the cold stone. She noticed a dark patch near the corner and crouched down. At first, she thought it was just dirt, but when she leaned closer, the sll hit her—iron. It was blood. The stain had dried, but there was a lot of it. Too much.
She swallowed hard and looked around again. That was when she noticed sothing else mixed in with the rubble—small, pale fragnts scattered across the floor. She picked one up hesitantly. It wasn’t wood. It wasn’t stone. Her stomach dropped.
"...Bones?" she whispered.
She didn’t want to imagine what happened here. She knelt down, closing her eyes for a brief mont to pay her respects, assuming the girl who lived here hadn’t survived. But the second she focused inward, sothing strange happened—she felt it. A lingering trace of both holy and forbidden magic tangled together in the air. It wasn’t just a residue, it pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.
Her eyes flew open. "What... Happened here?" she muttered under her breath. Holy and forbidden magic together was unnatural. Dangerous.
Before she could think more, she heard footsteps outside. She froze and crept back toward the door, peeking through the keyhole. Two guards were standing nearby, whispering to each other.
"Maybe it was just a mouse," one of them said nervously.
The other shook his head. "Either way, we’re supposed to report everything."
"I don’t want a reprimand," the first hissed. "If we say sothing and they ask us what it was, we’ll get punished for not finding it."
There was a long pause, then the second guard sighed.
He continued to persuade. "Co on, l don’t want to be punished! And I know you don’t either. There is nothing here! Let’s just go."
"Fine... Let’s just not report it." The other guard gave in
The first nodded quickly, eager to leave and go back to their own stations.. The second guard still looked unsure, glancing back once before following his partner down the hall.
Adeline waited until their footsteps faded completely. Her heart was still racing, but she let out a slow breath.
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