[...Continued from the previous chapter ]
The light from the Ritual pyre swore high outside…it even flickered in through the shadows of the chamber, but Kieran felt none of its warmth.
Everything seemed as though it was merely a distant memory, something he couldn't grasp. Everything was numb.
Lyla lay beside him…his mark still glowing faintly on her neck, their fates now irrevocably tied. The weight of the bond felt like a chain around his neck, and for the first time in a long while, Kieran couldn't breathe.He felt suffocated. Choked.
His eyes drifted close again, but his mind was far from resting. It was slowly crawling through memories.
A time when his world had been as simple as the laughter shared with his twin brother…Karl.
( start of flashback. Decades ago… )
" Why are you running like a girl, brother? Come on! You can do better! Come on… catch me! "
