Ebonveil moved on its own zone the following night, and Malzareth felt it before Chuthulos's map even finished updating.
'Thessarath,' he said, voice gone tight with something between fury and old grief. 'They're going after Thessarath. She was already weakening when I left. Centuries of isolation do that, even to something with a Law of her own.'
"You know her," John said.
'I knew her,' Malzareth said. 'We shared that ash-choked ground for two hundred years before I finally broke free. I owe her considerably more than a rescue that arrives too late.'
"Then it won't arrive too late," John said. "Suit up. You're coming with me this time."
...
Ebonveil's assault force moved without the Elder of Thorns at its head, command falling instead to a trio of senior monks who'd clearly decided her absence meant opportunity rather than pause.
