WebNovels

Chapter 21 - Chapter 21

The chains finished locking, and for a moment, the inner ring of the city seemed to breathe again. Torches along the high walls guttered in the wind, casting jagged shadows across the faces of soldiers who were already too tired, too bloodied, for how early in the night it still was.

Jayden could feel the tremor in the stone beneath his boots—not from the impact of the siege, but from the movement of too many people in too small a space. Every alley, every rooftop, was crowded with families clutching what they could carry, children clinging to parents' arms, eyes darting to the walls like they could see the war through stone.

Aerin didn't slow. She led him down the stair and into the command street that ringed the inner wall, shoving past runners carrying armloads of spears and crates of oil flasks.

"Where are we going?" Jayden asked.

"To the western bastion," she said, voice clipped. "It's where the fallback lines meet. If the Shadowborn breach here, that's where they'll try to pour through."

Jayden kept pace, but the shadow in his blood pressed closer with every step. They won't wait long. That masked one has already marked the gate.

"I'm not giving you control," Jayden muttered under his breath.

Control? The voice was almost amused. Child, I only want you to stop pretending you don't already want what I offer.

He clenched his fists.

The bastion came into view—an angular fortress of black granite and moonsteel jutting from the wall like a clenched fist. A score of guards worked the heavy repeating ballistae mounted along its roof, while others poured hot sand into massive copper cauldrons for the murder holes over the gate. The air was thick with the scent of pitch and oil.

The captain of the bastion spotted Aerin instantly. "Hunter! To the north wall—"

A roar cut him off.

Not human. Not animal. Something in between.

Every head turned toward the First Gate district.

It was gone. Not just overrun—gone. A rolling wall of shadow taller than the rooftops surged down the main street toward the inner ring. Houses collapsed into it, their timbers snapping like dry twigs. The few stragglers who hadn't fled in time were swallowed in silence.

At its center, walking as if on solid ground, was the masked figure.

Jayden's flame flared so suddenly he nearly doubled over. The shadow inside him surged like it was being pulled by a tide.

It's time, it whispered.

"Archers!" the captain bellowed. "Ballistae—aim for the center!"

The first volley of arrows and bolts streaked into the darkness—only to vanish as if they'd been fired into deep water. Not a single sound came back.

Then the shadow wave struck the inner gate.

The ground shook like an earthquake. The moonsteel portcullis groaned and held—for a moment.

The masked figure raised one hand. The shadow around the gate thickened, crystallizing into jagged spikes of black ice. The bars began to splinter.

Aerin grabbed Jayden's arm, yanking him toward the bastion doors. "Inside—now!"

But before they could move, a group of Shadowborn leapt from the wave to the top of the wall itself, landing in silence among the defenders. Their blades glimmered with frost.

The first guard fell without even a cry. The second went down clutching his throat.

Jayden didn't think—he was already moving, his silver flame cutting a wide arc that sent two of the warriors tumbling from the wall. But it burned too hot, too fast. His vision swam.

The shadow was right there. Let me show you how to make it last.

"No," he gasped.

The masked figure's voice carried over the chaos. "You cannot hold this gate without me, little moon-child."

Aerin was beside him, her axe singing through the air, severing a Shadowborn's arm at the elbow. "Ignore them—just fight!"

Jayden tried—but the figure stepped onto the wall in front of him, the battle blurring into background noise.

"I will not kill you," they said. "Not tonight. But the gate will fall. And when it does, I will take you."

They flicked their fingers. A crack like splintering bone echoed from the portcullis below.

One breath, the shadow inside him murmured. One breath and I could hold the gate. But you will have to open the door.

The final moonsteel bar gave way. The portcullis dropped inward with a scream of torn metal.

The Shadowborn army poured through.

And Jayden had one heartbeat to choose—take the shadow's hand and hold the city… or keep his flame pure and watch the bastion drown.

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