The drums did not stop.
Their beat rolled across the ruins like thunder, slow and heavy, echoing against the shattered stone. Each thrum rattled Kael's bones. His stomach twisted as he listened, though he didn't understand why. They weren't close—not yet. But something in the rhythm pressed on his chest, like chains tightening.
Brann strapped his sword tighter and paced to the broken doorway of the sanctum, scanning the blood-red horizon. His jaw was clenched, shoulders stiff.
Selene stood near the glyph-lit wall, her silver eyes gleaming faintly. She looked calm, as though the sound meant nothing. Yet her fingers traced the glyphs in a slow, steady rhythm that matched the drums. Kael wasn't sure if she was mocking them or warding against them.
"What do we do?" Kael asked finally. His voice cracked more than he liked.
Brann's reply was blunt. "We move. Now."
Kael blinked. "But… aren't we safer here? You said the glyphs—"
"They'll hold back beasts," Brann cut in. "But men don't fear glyphs. The Ash-Bound will tear this sanctum apart stone by stone if they know we're inside."
The drums grew louder. Boom. Boom. Boom. Kael could swear he felt the floor tremble beneath his boots.
"What do they want?" Kael whispered.
Brann turned, his expression grim. "Shadows. Always shadows. And anyone fool enough to carry them."
Selene's silver eyes slid to Kael. He stiffened under her gaze.
"You mean… me," Kael said slowly.
Selene's lips curved faintly. "They'll smell you before they see you. A fresh binder is a prize. To them, you're worth more than gold."
Kael's stomach knotted. The whispers inside him stirred eagerly, overlapping voices laughing. Ash-Bound… bind them, break them, feed on them…
He pressed his hand against his chest, trying to quiet them.
Brann moved toward the far wall of the sanctum, brushing away loose rubble. "There's a way out here. Hidden passage. Old tunnels under the ruins. Safer than waiting to be found."
"Safer?" Kael repeated nervously.
Brann shot him a hard look. "Nothing here is safe. But tunnels don't carry drums."
With Selene's help, he cleared enough rubble to reveal a narrow stairway plunging into darkness. Cold air wafted up, carrying the scent of damp stone.
Brann gestured sharply. "Move."
Kael hesitated, glancing back at the pulsing glyphs. Somehow, leaving their faint light felt like stepping out of fragile safety into certain doom. But the drums outside gave him no choice.
He followed Selene down the stairs, Brann close behind. The stone steps were cracked and uneven, leading into a tunnel that stretched in both directions, lined with faintly glowing moss.
Brann took the lead, torchless, his steps steady. Selene moved in the middle, Kael trailing at the rear. The whispers inside him grew restless in the dark. More shadows… deeper, deeper…
"How many of them are there?" Kael whispered after a while.
Brann's reply was grim. "Depends. A hunting band? Ten, twenty. A warband? Fifty. More."
"And if they find us?"
Brann didn't slow. "Then we fight. And pray we're still alive after."
Selene's voice floated back softly. "Or perhaps we let them take you, Kael. Then we can watch what happens when a binder becomes bound."
Kael froze, blood turning to ice.
Brann snapped, "Enough, Selene!"
But she only smiled faintly, silver eyes gleaming in the dark.
Kael swallowed hard and forced himself to keep walking. The whispers in his chest laughed again.
The tunnels twisted endlessly. Sometimes narrow, forcing them single-file. Sometimes widening into vast caverns filled with broken pillars and skeletal remains. Kael wondered who had built them, and why.
They stopped only once, crouching in silence as faint torchlight flickered in the distance down another passage. Voices echoed faintly. Human voices.
Brann's jaw tightened. He pressed a finger to his lips and waited until the sounds faded. Only then did he motion them forward again.
When they finally emerged into the open, Kael nearly wept with relief. They stepped out of a jagged crack into a valley of rubble, the crimson moon high above. The drums had faded, distant now, but still present.
Brann scanned the horizon. "We keep moving. There's an outpost not far—if it still stands. With luck, we'll reach it before dawn."
"Dawn?" Kael asked. "There is no dawn here."
Brann's expression didn't change. "There is. Not like home. The sky lightens for a time. That's when the beasts are hungriest."
Selene added softly, "Which is why we need walls before then."
Kael's heart sank. Walls. Outposts. Warbands. None of this felt survivable. And through it all, the hunger inside him only grew stronger