Page 34 of Bound In Stone, Claimed In Fire

I bite my lip. “Should we skirt around it? The purna said there might be patrols.”

He tilts his head. “We could. But we need vantage. If Nerezza truly has gargoyle brood flying these skies, I’d rather know.” A tension lines his jaw.He’s worried about twisted gargoyles—dark reflections of his own kind.My heart constricts at the thought.

“All right,” I concede. “We’ll approach carefully.”

We descend the slope, each footstep deliberate. The tether hums at a steady pitch, no immediate danger thrumming across it. That doesn’t ease my nerves. By the time we reach the perimeter of the ruins, my hands are clammy despite the cold. Broken pillars and scattered stones mark a once-proud structure. I guess it served as a vantage point centuries ago—maybe for purna or some other race. Lichen covers the fragments, giving them a mottled green hue. The wind sighs through the cracked archways.

Kaelith lifts a warning hand. I freeze, following his gaze. A large block of stone stands near the half-collapsed entrance, and behind it, I see something dark. My pulse spikes. We edge closer.No movement.Then I catch a whiff of decay.Rot.My stomach twists.

Rounding the block, we find a corpse—a purna, half-covered in rubble, eyes wide and sightless. My breath catches. Their brand is burnt black, as though forced to channel a lethal amount of magic. Kaelith grimaces, kneeling briefly. “They were killed recently,” he mutters, touching the cold flesh. “Possibly by a chaotic surge.” He glances at me, concerned. “Drayveth or Nerezza, no doubt.”

My hands tremble.Another casualty.“Can we do anything?”

He shakes his head. “Too late.” Gently, he shifts a stone aside, revealing the purna’s rictus face. A chill creeps down my spine.No wonder so many are fleeing.War is here, whether we like it or not.

Swallowing revulsion, we slip deeper into the ruins. The interior is partially open to the sky, columns toppled or eroded by time. At the far side, a spiral stairway leads up, presumably to a vantage platform. Cautious, we climb, ignoring the rubble underfoot that threatens to twist an ankle. My heart hammers with each step, the brand on my wrist tingling with that uneasy sense of being watched.

At the top, we step onto a crumbling balcony. A chunk of the wall has collapsed, revealing a panoramic view of the rolling mountains beyond. In the distance, I spy a jagged peak, behind which looms heavier cloud cover.Snowfall Glen must be somewhere in that direction.The air up here feels sharper, tinged with faint magic. A hush coats the scene, broken only by the wind.

Kaelith scans the horizon, expression grim. Then his focus zeroes in on something to the north—a black speck swooping through the sky. My breath catches. “Is that?—?”

He tenses. “Gargoyle. Possibly one of hers.” The shape is too far to see details, but it dips and rises with a fluid grace reminiscent of Kaelith’s flight.But this one… might be twisted.My pulse kicks.So Nerezza’s brood is truly in the skies.They’re not even trying to hide.

I step back, heart pounding. “They’ll see us,” I hiss, fear lacing my tone. “We need to move.”

He nods curtly. “Agreed.” Before we can descend, though, a faint groan from behind the broken wall makes us spin. My blood runs cold.Another survivor?

Moving swiftly, we circle the platform’s edge. Behind a collapsed archway, we find a purna soldier—cloaked, pinned under a slab of stone. They moan softly, eyes rolling. My chest tightens. Another wounded figure.This place is a battlefield, or was.Kaelith curses under his breath, shoving the stone aside with a heave of gargoyle strength. The slab shifts, revealing the soldier’s contorted leg. They whimper, face contorted in pain.

I kneel, brand pulsing as I attempt to conjure a minor healing wave. But as I press my hands to the soldier’s chest, I freeze. This person wears an insignia on their cloak—Drayveth’s mark.My heart stutters. Kaelith sees it too. His eyes flash with warning.We might be saving someone loyal to our enemy.

The soldier’s eyes flutter open, glimpsing Kaelith’s towering form. They snarl, though it’s weak. “Back… filthy gargoyle—” They cough, spitting blood. “Where is Drayveth?”

My throat tightens. “He’s not here,” I say, voice unsteady. “We found you under this rubble. Who attacked?”

They choke, trying to speak. “A single… creature… black wings… carved through us.” Their pupils dilate with terror. “We tried to hold this lookout. Then… darkness fell, and it… oh gods… it was her.”

Nerezza. The soldier shudders violently, tears leaking from the corners of their eyes. “She laughed… said we were unworthy, that we’d served our purpose. Drayveth was gone by then, left us behind to slow her. Everyone’s dead. I hid, but the arch collapsed.”

Kaelith’s jaw clenches. “Drayveth fled, leaving his own men to die?”

The soldier closes their eyes, chest hitching with ragged sobs. “He said… Sariah is the key. Must find her… must kill her… or Nerezza will take her. He left us here to buy him time, but she found us first.” They let out a broken laugh. “We failed… all of us.”

My pulse roars, sickness rolling in my gut.I’m being hunted by both sides.“You’re… you’re Drayveth’s soldier, yet you blame him for your plight?”

A bitter sneer contorts the soldier’s lips. “He used us. Said we’d be heroes, stopping the next Nyxari. But he never cared about our survival. Just his own twisted vendetta. Now… it’s over.” Their gaze shifts to me, flickering with hatred and despair. “If you truly are Sariah… run. She’ll find you. She’ll devour you from within. We’re all doomed.”

My brand sears, an echo of the soldier’s final declaration. They slump back, breathing shallowly.I can sense they’re close to death.Kaelith stands behind me, face carved in grim lines.

In an impulsive burst of pity, I press my hand to the soldier’s wound, trying to channel a flicker of healing. But their injuries are catastrophic—shattered leg, likely internal bleeding. My magic does little beyond granting them a few fleeting heartbeats. They cough, spitting blood, eyes distant.

“Leave… me,” they croak, voice barely audible. “No point.” A final shudder wracks their body, and their eyes glaze. A pang of horror seizes me.Another death, thrown away in a conflict swirling around me.I clench my teeth, fury rising at Drayveth’s ruthless abandonment and Nerezza’s merciless slaughter.

Kaelith rests a hand on my shoulder, tension humming in the tether. “We can’t linger,” he says, voice tight. “They might have reinforcements, or worse, that black-winged creature could return.”

A swirl of despair and determination churns in my chest. “I know,” I whisper, pulling back from the corpse. My mind replays the soldier’s final words:She’ll devour you. We’re all doomed.With trembling hands, I wipe away tears of frustration.

We hurry down the broken spiral stairs, hearts hammering. Once outside, Kaelith and I keep a watchful eye on the skies. That black speck of a gargoyle brood might be circling overhead. We slip into the foothills, forging a winding path away from the ruins. The gravity of the purna’s revelations weighs on us.Nerezza is on the move, cutting down Drayveth’s men as well as innocent covens.My brand itches with a sense of foreboding.She wants me, wants Kaelith, wants the power we share. Because I inadvertently freed her?

---