Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 152

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They bolted.

Branches whipped at Julian’s face as they tore through the undergrowth, boots pounding over roots and stone. The forest exploded into motion behind them.

The sentinel charged.

Fast–far too fast.

Its footsteps weren’t heavy; they were wrong, a rapid skittering thud that gained ground with terrifying ease. Julian risked a glance over his shoulder and immediately regretted it.

The sentinel was right there.

Talons swung forward, blades of bone slicing the air inches from Julian’s head. He ducked instinctively, the wind of the strike ripping past his neck.

“Fuck-!” Jace gasped.

A second presence surged from the shadows to their left.

Julian barely had time to shout before another sentinel burst from the brush, lunging sideways, jaws snapping shut where Jace’s shoulder had been a heartbeat earlier.

They veered hard, barely clearing it as claws shredded bark and gravel behind them.

Two.

At least two.

Julian’s wolf roared inside him, furious and desperate.

Shift.

The word slammed through the mindlink, sharp and absolute.

Now. Don’t hesitate.

He didn’t have to tell Jace twice.

They ripped their packs from their shoulders mid–stride, hands moving on pure instinct. The forest blurred.

Bones snapped.

Muscle surged.

Fur tore free as the shift crashed through them violently and fast–wolves hitting the ground where men had been. Julian caught his pack in his jaws on instinct, weight familiar even as his body changed.

Jace did the same beside him.

They hit the forest floor running.

Paws thundered over earth, faster now–but still not fast enough.

The sentinels howled.

The sound wasn’t a bowl meant for lungs. It fore through the trees like metal scraping stone, echoing them every direction at

Once.

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ener

Branches shattered as one sentinel leapt, crashing through the canopy above them, landing hard and rolling–then instantly back on its feet.

Relentless.

Julian pushed harder, lungs burning, legs screaming as they tore through the dark.

Then, a light appeared without warning.

Not soft.

Not gentle.

It pierced through the treeline ahead like a wound–brilliant, blinding, unnatural against the forest’s suffocating dark. It bled through the branches in jagged shards, pulsing as if it were alive, calling to them.

“That’s it!”

Julian sent through the mindlink, the words sharp with urgency. “That’s the way out.”

Jace didn’t respond–but Julian felt his agreement in the way he pushed harder, muscles screaming as they tore through roots and undergrowth.

Behind them, the sentinels were close. Too close.

Talons slashed at empty air inches from their heels. Teeth snapped–wet, gnashing sounds that vibrated through Julian’s skull. The ground shook beneath their charge, the forest itself recoiling as if it knew what hunted them.

The light grew brighter.

Closer.

Hope–raw and dangerous–flared in Julian’s chest.

Then the sentinels screamed.

The sound detonated through the forest–high and layered. It wasn’t just noise; it was pressure. It tore through Julian’s senses, turning the world into a blur of pain and distortion. His vision doubled. His balance faltered. His ears rang as if something inside his head had shattered.

“Stay with me!”

Julian shouted through the link, panic clawing up his spine.

“Jace–stay with me! Just a little farther!”

The edge of the forest loomed–branches thinning, the darkness breaking apart as the light poured in like fire.

They were almost there when something dropped from above.

Julian felt the third sentinel before he saw it the displacement of air, the sudden shadow eclipsing the glow.

“JACE!” Julian screamed “LOOK OUT-

Ele didn’t see if Jace heard him.

”

Julian ducked instinctively, twisting hard as he launched forward with everything he had left He crashed through the last wall of branches, splintering, through brush and light

and hit the ground on the other side.

Hard.

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The impact knocked the breath from his lungs. He tumbled, rolled, pain exploding through his limbs as his pack tore free from his jaws and skidded across unfamiliar earth.

Julian lay there for half a second–stunned, ringing, the world spinning.

Then instinct snapped him upright.

He shook his head violently, the haze peeling away just enough for clarity to slam into him like a blade.

The forest entrance loomed behind him.

Dark

Silent.

Empty.

No Jace.

Julian’s heart dropped into his gut.

“JACE!” he roared, a growl ripping from his chest.

Without thinking–without hesitant

Back into the dark.

I bolted straight back toward the treeline.

Branches clawed at his flanks as he barreled through, heart hammering, wolf howling with panic and rage-

-and then he saw them.

One of the sentinels had Jace.

Its jaws were locked around Jace’s hind leg, teeth sunk deep, dragging him backward through the roots like prey already claimed. Jace snarled and thrashed, claws raking desperately at the thing’s face, blood streaking his fur as he fought to stay

upright.

The sentinel released Jace with a furious shriek as claws tore across its face–but it only reared back, talons flexing, jaws opening wide, rows of teeth gleaming as it prepared to finish him.

Julian launched.

The dagger Lazarus had given him was clenched between his wolf’s jaws ancient, heavy, thrumming with something that did not belong to this world.

Midair, Julian shifted.

Bones snapped. Flesh twisted as he caught the dagger in his hand and drove it forward with everything he had.

Straight through the sentinel’s skull.

The sentinel shrieked a sound layered with a thousand stolen voices -as it staggered back, convulsing violently. Its toru flickered, unraveling faces peeling over one another, bodies phasing in and out, every deception it had ever worn surfacing at once in a grotesque cascade.

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