WebNovels

The Gift That Devoured Me

Dark_Ticket
In a world where every child receives a magical “Gift” at fifteen, Caspin hoped for greatness. Instead, he was cursed with Gorge—an insatiable hunger that slowly consumed his body, his dreams, and his place in the world. Once a promising student at the academy, Caspin became a pariah: abandoned by friends, shunned by society, and crushed under the weight of his own flesh and regret. Now nearing forty and penniless, he drifts to the edge of a crumbling town near the Death Cross, a shifting frontier where monsters breach reality. Hoping desperation would outweigh prejudice, he seeks work among those too fearful to care who they hire. But even here, he fails. Fired. Forgotten. Fading. When the Death Cross breaches, Caspin joins the town’s final stand, not out of courage—but because there’s nothing left to lose. Blades clash, monsters descend, and Caspin finds himself face-to-face with death. But in his last breath, as his long-forgotten family pendant shatters, time halts—and regret floods in. Visions of what might have been blind him: the family he left behind, the friend he begged not to forget him, the life he abandoned. And then, a voice: “We meet again, child.” Caspin is about to discover that death was never the end—it was the turning point.
Table of contents
Latest Updates

Crown of Thorns and Roses.

Those who fail him, they claim, are consumed by his gardens. They are unaware, though, that I have been talking to plants my whole life—and now the fate of the kingdom hinges on their response. I wanted no attention at all. Enough risk is involved growing illegal miraculous blossoms in my small rural garden. However, I find the reason the king's gardens are withering and why all five gardeners before me have vanished when royal guards transport me to the palace. The gardens provide more than only aesthetic purposes. They're the kingdom's last defense. Constant observation by Crown Prince Thorne, his silver eyes frigid as the winter gradually kills his territory. The court mumbles he killed the past gardeners for failing, but I detect despair in his eyes. Each day I coax life from the wilting magical plants, I feel the protective wards strengthening. Each night, I sense the shadowy creatures straining our bounds, getting stronger, hungrier. Should I fail, I should detest the haughty prince threatening punishment. Instead, I find myself pulled to the man beneath the thorny crown—a monarch willing to become the villain in whispered legends if it means saving his people. As my power develops with odd new blossoms no one has seen before, so does the threat. The prince's foes conspire within the royal walls, the magical barriers decrease with each passing day, and my heart treacherously softens toward the man who cannot afford to love me back. They believe his gardens eat those who disappoint him. What they don't know is what happens when a wild magic like mine begins to overwhelm me.
AmakaChim · 5.4k Views