Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 418

Chapter 418: Hunger

Hades

The sun bled over the horizon, and I felt the drag in my wings—too exposed, too bright. Kael’s hand pressed harder against my shoulder, a silent agreement.

We dropped lower, circling once before I forced the descent. The landing jarred through me, talons gouging earth before folding tight against my back. Dust rose, quick and sharp.

"Here," Kael said, already pulling me toward the cover of the trees. His voice was clipped, urgency replacing wonder.

The forest swallowed us, shadows wrapping tight. I hunched my wings in, muscles burning, and let the canopy close overhead. The sky could wait.

For now, we had to disappear until nightfall.

Controlling my new wings to launch turned out to be far easier than the landing. The uneasy sensation—like the feeling of falling—held me back from fully tucking my wings so my feet could touch the ground.

"Easy..." Kael muttered, the edges of his words strained with fear, one he tried to hide.

I forced my wings tighter, the joints aching as the membranes scraped bark and brush. Every instinct screamed to keep them half-spread, to resist the drop, but the ground rushed up regardless. My feet struck hard, knees buckling, claws gouging lines through the soil before I steadied.

Kael’s grip lingered at my shoulder until he was sure I wouldn’t topple. Only then did he let out a breath, sharp and shaky.

The trees loomed close around us, branches netting the first rays of dawn, muting them to fractured light. I folded myself into the shadows, tucking the last gleam of wing out of sight.

"Good," Kael murmured, though his jaw stayed tight. His eyes flicked to the open stretch behind us, to the distant roofs of the village barely visible beyond the treeline. "Too many eyes in daylight. We wait here."

I gave a short nod, chest heaving. The muscles along my back throbbed, wings twitching with every pulse of blood, restless against concealment.

The weight of the wings pressed heavy against me, straining against the cage of trees. My body wasn’t made to be sky and earth at once. The forest wanted me smaller, hidden. Human.

I braced my hand against a trunk, bark biting my palm, and willed it. The change.

Heat lanced through my spine, sharp enough to drag a snarl from my throat. Bone ground against bone, joints wrenching as if my own skeleton were fighting itself. The wings shuddered, then curled in violently, folding until the membranes tore back into nothing but skin.

I collapsed to my knees, chest heaving, sweat slicking my face. My claws split, retreating into fingers that shook with the aftermath. The world shrank with me—shadows less vast, the air no longer carrying me but pressing down heavy.

Kael crouched close, his hand catching my shoulder as though to anchor me through it. He didn’t speak. He only watched, green eyes dark with the fear he tried so hard to keep buried.

When it was done, I was left kneeling in the dirt, bare and trembling, the forest closing tight around me like it had been waiting for me to fall back into place.

I spat blood into the soil, wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, and forced myself upright. My voice was rough, raw from the strain.

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