Chapter 156: The Bone That Remembers
CELESTE'S POV
I dreamed of fire.
Not the kind that roars or consumes, but the kind that cleanses. A cold, white fire that doesn't burn skin — it burns names. Memory. Soul.
In the dream, I stood in the center of the seal circle. Again.
But this time, I wasn't alone.
They stood around me — Alric, Vira, the Council, Zarian, Kael, Darius. But their faces were wrong. Blank. Skulls wrapped in silk and armor, chanting in a language I'd never been taught… but somehow knew.
The Old Tongue.
The language of bone and blood.
The Forgotten Queen's tongue.
As they spoke, the runes at my feet lit up — and so did the ones carved on my skin. I couldn't breathe.
And then I heard her voice.
Low, amused. Speaking through me.
"We never forget what we bury in ourselves."
I woke choking on ash, heart pounding like war drums.
My hand was bleeding.
The rune on my palm had carved itself deeper in my sleep.
And it was humming.
