Chapter 28 Where should we go?

The forest felt tighter with every breath I drew. The air itself seemed to choke me, thick with the scent of iron and blood. Behind us, the growls had grown louder, closer. They were on our trail, hungry and relentless.

Kael limped ahead, his jaw clenched, pretending he wasn’t leaving a faint crimson trail with every step. I saw it though—the drops of blood staining roots and stones. Each one a beacon for the monsters behind us.

“Kael, stop—” I reached for his arm.

He shook me off, his voice rough. “Don’t waste time worrying about me. Keep moving.”

I bit my lip hard. Guilt twisted inside me. His wound, his pain… all because of me. And still, he pushed forward, carrying more weight than he should.

Dorian’s voice cut through the night, sharper than the bite of the cold air. “He’s bleeding us into a trap. They’ll follow us straight here.”

Kael spun, teeth bared. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you?” Dorian hissed, stepping closer. “Because from here, it looks like you’re dragging her into the jaws of death.”

“Enough!” I snapped before either of them could lunge. My voice trembled, but the fire in me was real. “Both of you, enough.”

That was when we reached it. A fork in the path, three directions splitting the world apart.

North—dark peaks clawing the sky, the ruins beyond them broken and sharp. A quicker route, maybe, but every stone looked ready to bury us alive.

East—the forest thickened, shadows curling and whispering, wards waiting to twist the mind. The Bloodmoon lands. Kael’s lands.

South-east—the long road, a faint slope vanishing into the distance. The promise of Moonvale, green valleys and safety, if we survived the journey.

I stopped dead in the middle, staring at all three. My heart pounded so loudly it drowned the howls behind us.

Kael moved first, stepping toward the eastern shadows. His voice was low but filled with command. “We go east. Through Bloodmoon territory. I'm an Alpha there, I was born into them. I can get us through.”

Dorian’s laugh was bitter. “You? With half your strength left? You’d lead her straight into their claws.”

Kael’s hand twitched toward his blade, but I caught the fire in his eyes before he spoke. “You think I would fail her? That I’d let her die?”

“You don’t get to speak as if she belongs to you,” Dorian said, voice rising. He turned to me then, his eyes softer but burning with urgency. “Elara. My pack—Moonvale—it isn’t as strong as Bloodmoon, but it’s fair. Safe. If you want to live, if you want peace, that’s where you should go.”

Kael snarled, stepping in between us. “He’s trying to steal you. Can’t you see that?”

“And what about you?” I burst out, my voice shaking. “You both talk like I’m some prize to claim! Do either of you even see what’s happening? We’re running out of time!”

They froze.

I turned on them, fury bubbling hot in my chest. “I won’t stand here while you fight over me. I won’t let either of you bleed for me like this anymore. I decide. Me.”

For the first time, both of them fell silent. Kael’s eyes softened, just for a heartbeat, pain flickering beneath his pride. Dorian’s shoulders lowered, though his gaze still searched mine, desperate for an answer.

I clutched the Codex tight to my chest. My breath came short, my lips parted, ready to speak the path we’d take.

And then—

A roar ripped through the trees, so close the earth itself shuddered beneath our feet. Shadows broke apart in the forest, red eyes gleaming like fire in the mist.

Kael whipped his blade free with a curse. Dorian yanked me back behind him, his grip firm but trembling.

“Elara!” he shouted. “Say it—now! Which way?!”

The sound of claws raked against bark. The growls closed in like a storm.

North. East. South.

Every direction screamed death.

I had no more time.

I had to choose—now.

The growls came closer, tearing through the trees, a wall of sound and fury. Kael stood ready, blade flashing in the dark. Dorian pulled me closer, his chest rising and falling fast, his eyes searching mine.

“Elara! Say it!” he urged. “We don’t have time!”

Kael’s voice cut through, raw and desperate. “East! Bloodmoon will protect you!”

“No,” Dorian snapped, “Moonvale! It’s the only way to survive this!”

The storm inside me broke. My heart slammed in my chest, my breath burning as if fire filled my lungs. I looked at both of them, Kael’s fire, Dorian’s steadiness, and then at the shadows spilling into the clearing.

I screamed the words before I could lose my courage.

“South-east! We take the road to Moonvale!”

Kael stiffened, his jaw tight, but he didn’t fight me. Not this time. Dorian’s eyes widened, relief breaking through the tension as he gripped my arm.

“Move!” he barked.

We plunged into the narrow path, roots and thorns clawing at our legs. Behind us, the Bloodbound howled, their claws shredding bark, their scent sharp with hunger.

And then, something stirred.

The Codex, heavy against my chest, pulsed once. A glow seeped through my cloak, faint but alive, as if the book itself had heard my choice.

Fog spilled across the path, thick and unnatural, curling between the trees. Within moments the forest was swallowed whole, a silver shroud wrapping us in silence. The howls grew muffled, confused. Snapping twigs faltered.

Kael glanced around, his voice low and shaken. “This… this isn’t natural.”

Dorian’s eyes flicked to me, then to the Codex hidden against my heart. “It’s her,” he whispered. “Or the book.”

My pulse thundered. I hadn’t done anything—at least, I thought I hadn’t. Yet the mist clung to us like a shield, bending the night to our escape.

For the first time since this nightmare began, the hunters couldn’t see us.

But as the fog thickened, colder than ice, a new fear slid into my bones. If the Codex could hide us so easily… what else could it do once it decided to act on its own?