SOULBOUND: THE ABYSS WITHIN

Chapter 78: Sparks and Shadows

The moon cast a silver sheen over Lafrosa's high city towers, quieting the streets after the chaos of the day. But not everyone had found rest.

Atop one of the lesser skywalks linking the Academy's eastern dormitory to the Soul Archives, Mira Hawthorne stood alone, arms folded, wind teasing strands of her chestnut-brown hair. Her blue eyes were unreadable as she stared out towards the Ikemba estate loomed beneath its stormy veil of black lightning.

She was waiting.

She could feel it—the storm was coming.

And it arrived.

A ripple of pressure hit the skywalk like a crashing wave. From above, a flash of black descended like divine judgment.

Muna Ikemba landed on the railing in a crouch, the bridge shuddering beneath her. Crackles of black lightning trailed along her shoulders and arms like living serpents. Dressed in a jagged combat robe, her untamed black curls whipped in the breeze, and her fierce eyes narrowed on the girl before her.

"Mira Hawthorne."

Mira didn't even flinch. "I expected you would come."

"Oh?" Muna stepped down, boots clanking softly on metal. "Then you should've run. While you still have legs."

Mira turned slowly. "I'm not afraid of you, Muna."

"That's fine," Muna said, flexing her fingers as arcs danced between them. "You don't have to be afraid. You just have to listen."

The wind howled around them, pressure building in the air.

"You crossed a line," Muna said. "I don't care what obsession lives in that twisted little heart of yours—but touching my daughter, violating her space, following her like some deranged predator? That's where it ends."

Mira's jaw clenched, but she didn't look away. "Cassandra is mine."

Lightning cracked behind Muna's eyes.

"No, she's mine," Muna snapped, stepping forward. "My blood. My baby. And if I so much as hear your name near hers again, I swear on the progenitor's soul—I'll turn the Hawthorne estate into a crater."

Mira stood her ground, heart pounding, but spoke with fire. "You think I'm scared because you shout louder? I've trained. I've earned my place. You don't get to tell me how I feel."

"You don't get to touch her," Muna growled, now face to face with the girl.

For a heartbeat, both stood still—power humming at the edge of violence.

Then—

A sharp voice echoed through the air. "That's enough."

Both turned.

Sir Albert, the Ikemba family butler, stood a few meters away, calm as still water but with his aura fully unleashed—an Elder Soulborne's authority pressing into the skywalk.

"Lady Muna," he said gently. "The Grand Council already whispers. If you break her here, it may cost us more than pride."

Muna snarled, but her fingers slowly unclenched. "She's not worth a single whisper."

Then she turned to Mira and spat, "You're lucky. But don't mistake a leash for forgiveness."

Crackling with thunder, she vanished in a burst of black lightning.

Mira stood there alone, shaking—not from fear, but from fury. A hand raised to her lips, where her stolen kiss with Cassandra still lingered in memory.

"I will make her understand," Mira whispered, staring out into the night. "One way or another."

And behind her, in the depths of shadow, Ramses watched from the tower edge.

Grinning.

> "Now the fuse is burning."