Page 228 of Blood Feast

“The mortals agreed to surrender the Hesperines to the Order of Anthros to spare themselves. Our elder firstbloods, Daedalaand Thelxinos, went willingly to buy time for those they’d Gifted. My mother and Kitharos led the escape, and my father was one of the few humans who helped them.”

“I thought none of the temples were spared,” Cassia said.

Lyros shook his head. “The Order never intended to keep their bargain. They slaughtered the mortal Hespera worshipers, too. But my parents and Kitharos made it here to Hagia Boreia with a small group of Hesperines and loyal humans.”

“I’m so sorry.”

His brow creased, as if something new had occurred to him. “My parents know what it’s like to be abandoned by the people who should have defended you.”

Mak ruffled his Grace’s hair. “You didn’t really think your ‘artistic’ hands were the reason they chose you for their son, did you?”

Lyros put an arm around Mak, and they started the hike toward the temple together. Lio took Cassia’s hand and started after their Trial brothers.

As they approached, he gestured to the steep cliffs. “Before the Last War, two great stairways led to the gate. Light mages and warders escorted those seeking safety on the long climb. When the Aithourians laid siege to the temple, my father demolished the stairs.”

The waterfall soon drowned out their voices and sprayed them with cool mist. Lio ran his hand over a pile of stones that might still hold pieces of the fallen stairways. He and Cassia put the hounds safely in a stay at the foot of the cliffs before beginning the treacherous ascent.

The Black Roses levitated over the footsteps of generations of Sanctuary seekers. Their immortal power carried them up to the place where the first Hesperines had walked when they were alive.

They landed on a broad ledge to one side of the waterfall. There had once been a bridge across to the opposite ledge, Lio recalled. Now, just a precipice of white water. He helped Cassia step the hounds carefully up to the ledge.

“Dame isn’t nervous around the Hesperine magic here,” Cassia observed. “She adjusted much faster than Knight.”

Lio gave his familiar a pat. “Giving her my blood seems to have only positive effects thus far.”

Cassia ran her hand through Knight’s ruff. Lio knew she was wondering, hoping, that this could change her liegehound’s future, too.

Lyros hefted his spear. “Let’s keep an eye out in case any heart hunters choose tonight to vandalize the ruins. They would love to pick off some Hesperine pilgrims while they’re at it.”

“I’ll vandalize their faces.” Mak’s belt-chain chimed as he drew the Star of Orthros.

“Ckuundat,” Cassia said, and Knight came to attention.

Lio tried the command with Dame. Suddenly his sweet, timid familiar was standing alert, the fur rising on her back. She positioned herself in front of him.

He used Final Word for a walking stick as they half levitated, half scrambled up to level ground above the mouth of the waterfall. “The gate would have been here.”

He started forward. Magic washed over him, as if a libation still dripped in the air. The others froze beside him, not even breathing.

“This was the boundary of the Sanctuary ward,” Mak said.

Together, they crossed the threshold where Anastasios and Alea had made their last stand.

They walked out over the floor of the courtyard where Sanctuary Roses had once grown and the mages of Hespera had welcomed all who sought refuge here. Smooth white stones, begrimed with ash, still paved the ground. No snow touched theperfect circle, as if the fire that had razed the temple had marked it forever.

They ventured further into the ruins, where bas reliefs lay defaced. Heart hunters had scrawled obscenities on every pillar stub and scrap of wall. Mak blasted each one with a cleaning spell as they passed.

The temple complex ran deep between the two peaks, in some places carved right out of the surrounding stone. Cassia paused below a rocky overhang where a long wing cut into the mountainside. “I think there’s some sort of magic this way. Does anyone else feel it?”

Mak and Lyros shook their heads.

Lio reached with his senses again. Something familiar tugged at his chest. “You’re right.”

As they followed her, the impression grew stronger. Pain. Decision. Survival. By the time she halted, Lio was choked with emotion he didn’t understand. There was nothing here but a window, tunneling through the thick walls to grant a glimpse of the stars beyond.

“Why does this place feel so important?” Cassia’s voice was thick.

Mak exchanged a glance with Lyros. “We can feel the emotion here too, but it’s not affecting us as much.”

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