Scarlett (Second Edition) by Karima Saad Usman novel Chapter 177

Marlent

hapter 177

rody & map surped towed rha, dark and relentless. I barely managed to drick, but suddenly, the scene shifted, and I found myself standing on a battirild The ground was fresen, unmistakably Northern soil, and bodies lay scafeered everywhere a testament to the lives that had already been lost.

I struggled to make setor of it, scanning the chaos around me, when I saw Lucian. He was charging straight at the rider, his face set with grim determination. I shouted his name, desperate to warn him, but he couldn’t hear me. He was no match for this rider, and he must have known that an well, but there was something he was trying to protect. What was it? Or who?

“Where is your Luma?” the rider’s voice boomed, a deep, thunderous sound that rattled through the icy air. The voice was unmistakably masculine, yet his features remained cloaked in shadows and

mystery.

Lucian & voice was steady, defiant. “Far away from here, where you’ll never find her.” I could see the strain in his face as he tried to shift, but the rider’s magic coiled around his neck like an invisible vice, choking him, keeping him bound.

“Fool. If you had handed her over, I would have spared you and your people. But you leave me no choice.” The rider’s words were final, heavy with intent.

Before I could scream his name, before I could even blink, the rider struck. Lucian’s head was severed cleanly from his body. The world around me stopped, and it felt as though my own heart had been ripped from my chest. The bond between us snapped, leaving a hollow, suffocating void. My legs gave way, and though I wanted to rush to his side, I was frozen, locked in place, watching helplessly.

Tears streamed down my face as an agonizing wave of regret washed over me. Why hadn’t I let go? Why had I clung so fiercely to my grudge, ray anger? If I had given him another chance, if I had softened, if I had only told him the truth about what he meant to me…

I felt my tears falling, even though part of me knew this was only a dream, a horrible nightmare. But it felt so real, the anguish and loss ripping through me as though it were happening right here, right now. Life was painfully short, and I had pushed away what I had needed most. The depth of that regret anchored me, leaving me helpless, trapped in the nightmare as it consumed me.

A low, ferocious growl cut through the battlefield. Maxwell. He was rushing forward, following Lucian’s same desperate path, charging straight for the rider, rage etched on his face. He leapt into the air, beginning to shift mid-jump. But before he could strike, Clay lunged in, trying to knock the rider off his horse. Both of them closed in from different angles, determined to land a blow but they were not aiming for a kill. And then, something impossible happened-the rider vanished, his form dissolving just as they reached him. They struck nothing but air, their bodies crashing hard against the frozen ground.

The sight turned my stomach cold. Maxwell and Clay lay still, unmoving, their lives snuffed out in an instant. My heart shattered as I cried sut, my voice raw with anguish. Not them, too. It felt as though pieces of me were being ripped away, one by one.

Γ

Before I could gather my thoughts, a surge of blue flames tore through the field, fierce and blazing, aimed directly at the rider. I turned, and there was Keith, his power raging as he stood defiantly between me and the twisted figure. For a moment, a surge of relief warmed me, but it was fleeting. How could I feel joy when Lucian, Maxwell, and Clay lay lifeless at my feet?

“Get away from him, please!” I screamed, my voice thick with desperation. But my words seemed to fade, as though swallowed by the night. Keith couldn’t

hear me.

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