Rovan Ashford raised both hands and somehow forced down the roaring tide of flattery pouring at him from every direction.
Rovan looked like a man trying not to drown in praise.
When the noise finally dipped enough for speech, he shouted over the crowd.
"Which one of you heroes has fought red-bone skeletons?"
Silence crashed down.
It came so suddenly that even the crackling torches seemed louder.
Hundreds of men stared at one another.
A few blinked.
One scar-faced sellsword spat into the dirt.
Then he barked, "Bullshit! Somebody fed us lies! There ain't no red-bone monsters here. Hell, there ain't barely any normal skeletons!"
That broke the dam.
Voices exploded from every direction.
"Damn right!"
"We were the first ones here and we only killed twenty—maybe thirty regular bone-rats!"
"We found nothing!"
"I rode over sixty damn miles through swamp rot for this!"
"If I find the bastard who spread this rumor, I'll crush his balls into soup!"
The curses grew filthier by the second.
Kael listened with bright-eyed fascination.
His senior sisters all looked disgusted.
Kael, however, thought the drunken creativity of hardened mercenaries was educational.
He leaned slightly toward Mira.
"Did you hear that one about the goat and the priest?"
Mira covered her mouth to hide a laugh.
Selene glared at him.
"Why do you look impressed?"
"Because I am," Kael whispered. "These men are poets."
Selene looked like she wanted to throw him into the swamp.
Rovan's smile stiffened.
Disappointment flashed across his face before he buried it beneath practiced charm.
"The reports may still be true," he shouted. "Maybe those red-bone bastards heard all of you were coming and ran for their lives."
A few men laughed.
Rovan pointed deeper into the darkness of Gravecut.
"Don't grow lazy. At dawn, we search again."
More reassurances followed.
Promises of rewards.
Warnings about vigilance.
Eventually the mass of hunters broke apart, drifting back toward their camps like restless wolves.
Rovan exhaled heavily and walked toward Isara's group.
He spread his hands.
"Waste of a trip. No red-bone skeletons."
Lyra stood with her arms folded beneath her chest, moonlight painting silver over her flawless skin.
"Then we follow the blood pools."
Her voice remained calm.
"If those pools were feeding something larger, then there must be a primary source."
Isara gave a single nod.
The dying sunset bled red across the horizon.
"It's late," she said. "We rest tonight. We move tomorrow."
Her tone ended all debate.
Behind them, over fifty Iron Maw soldiers finally arrived, armor caked in swamp mud.
Rovan ordered them to establish camp near the ruins.
Meanwhile, Isara led her disciples farther from the main crowd.
They found a wind-sheltered slope of hard earth beyond the ruins and settled there.
A fire was built.
Pots were hung.
Night swallowed the mire.
---
Selene sat beside Sylva near the fire, quietly poking burning wood with a stick.
The flames reflected in her pale eyes.
Her voice lowered.
"Did you notice Kael after we left Lakeheart Isle?"
Sylva glanced at her.
"What about him?"
"He seemed... distracted."
Selene hesitated.
"Like he wasn't fully here."
Sylva frowned.
"I noticed."
She looked toward Kael's distant silhouette moving through camp.
"He's been strange since we left that island."
The night stretched endlessly around them.
Beyond their camp, hundreds of other fires burned around the Ancient War Camp.
From a distance, they resembled clusters of red eyes staring through the dark.
And for reasons Sylva couldn't explain—
her unease had only grown stronger.
"You asked him?" Selene said softly.
Sylva nodded.
"I did."
"And?"
"He answered like a man talking in his sleep."
Selene lowered her gaze.
"Oh."
Sylva studied her face.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?"
Selene stiffened.
"I will."
She quickly added—
"Eventually."
Sylva's expression turned suspicious.
"That's strange."
"What is?"
"You two usually spend every waking hour fighting."
Mira leaned in from the other side with a grin.
"She's right. You haven't called him an idiot once today."
Selene nearly dropped the stick into the fire.
"I have too!"
Mira laughed.
"No. It's been unnervingly peaceful."
Selene's face flushed red.
"We've been busy!"
She gestured wildly.
"Running around all day! Less time to insult him!"
Mira looked unconvinced.
Sylva looked amused.
Selene wanted the earth to open beneath her.
---
"Food ready yet?"
Kael emerged from darkness carrying an absurd pile of dead branches over both shoulders.
He dumped them beside the fire.
Wood scattered everywhere.
"That should keep us warm till sunrise."
Zaeli smiled as she stirred a hanging pot.
"Almost done."
Steam rose from the broth.
The smell hit Kael like a divine revelation.
His stomach growled loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"What's in it?"
"Wild mushrooms. bamboo shoots. dried bean skin."
She smiled warmly.
"And all your favorites."
Kael looked ready to cry.
"You're too good for this world."
He dropped down heavily between Selene and Mira.
Mira instantly frowned.
"There's room everywhere else."
Kael leaned back lazily.
"It gets cold at night."
He flashed a grin.
"We share body heat like civilized people."
He glanced sideways at Selene.
Selene immediately stood.
"I'm hot."
Her voice was icy enough to freeze steel.
She lifted her skirts and moved to the opposite side of the fire.
Kael stared after her.
He looked deeply wounded.
"What did I do now?"
No one answered.
---
"Why's Third Soror mad at you?"
Mira whispered.
Kael looked miserable.
"That list is very long."
Before Mira could laugh—
torchlight approached.
Rovan appeared with two soldiers carrying trays.
He bowed respectfully toward Isara.
"I brought food and drink from town."
The soldiers placed the trays down.
Roasted beef.
Braised pork.
Fresh bread.
And a small jug of strong liquor.
Kael nearly screamed with joy.
"You beautiful bastard!"
He lunged for a pork shank and began tearing into it like a starving animal.
Rovan chuckled.
Then he smelled Zaeli's soup.
He froze.
His eyes widened.
"Oh."
He stared into the pot.
"That smells incredible."
Lyra smiled faintly.
"Then stay."
Rovan did not hesitate.
He dismissed his soldiers and sat down immediately.
His gaze swept the group.
He noticed an open spot beside Mira.
He moved for it.
Then looked up.
Kael was glaring at him like a territorial dog.
Rovan blinked.
Then smiled brightly and sat anyway.
Mira curled into herself, knees pulled to her chest.
Her face slowly reddened beneath the firelight.
The warm glow made her look dangerously beautiful.
Kael narrowed his eyes at Rovan.
Rovan smiled wider.
Neither spoke.
A silent war began.
---
Once the soup was ready, Zaeli served everyone.
Mira pulled out fresh bread she'd bought earlier that day and placed it in the center.
Everyone ate.
Rovan casually helped Zaeli serve bowls.
Very casually—
he made sure Mira's bowl was filled first.
Kael noticed.
His eyes narrowed again.
Then he glanced across the fire.
Selene liked mushrooms.
He remembered that.
Without anyone noticing—
or so he thought—
he quickly stuffed a massive pile of mushrooms into her bowl.
Selene looked down.
Then up.
Then exploded.
"I have hands!"
The entire camp froze.
Kael blinked.
"I was just—"
She dumped every mushroom from her bowl into Zaeli's instead.
"I can feed myself."
Zaeli quietly chewed bread while her dark eyes moved between them.
Very interested.
Sylva looked entertained.
Mira bit her lip to stop laughing.
Even Lyra seemed amused.
Kael wanted death.
To escape the humiliation, he immediately began shoving food onto everyone else's plates.
"Eat more."
He forced a smile.
"You're all too thin."
He acted like he had personally paid for the meal.
When he reached Rovan—
the two men stared at each other.
Expressionless.
Several long seconds passed.
Then both turned away at the exact same moment.
Temporary peace.
Kael survived the rest of dinner through sheer endurance.
The second it ended—
he fled.
"I need to piss."
No one stopped him.
---
He walked deep into the darkness beyond camp.
Crickets screamed.
The swamp breathed.
Rot and wet earth filled the air.
Kael relieved himself against a tree root with profound satisfaction.
Then tied his trousers again.
And immediately thought about Selene.
Which led him to thinking about last night.
That reckless, fevered night.
Her trembling body.
Her breathless sounds.
The warmth between her thighs.
The way she'd clung to him afterward.
Kael leaned against the tree and groaned softly.
Sweet misery.
He missed her already.
He let out a long sigh.
A woman laughed softly behind him.
"You're awfully young to be sighing like a broken old man."
Kael nearly jumped out of his skin.
He spun around.
Lyra stood beneath fractured moonlight.
Tree shadows crossed her body.
Her pale skin seemed to glow in the darkness.
She looked unreal.
Like some seductive forest spirit from old tavern stories.
Kael quickly tightened his belt properly.
"Shreve Lyra?"
He blinked.
"What are you doing out here?"
"I came to find you."
Kael pointed at himself.
"Me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
She smiled.
"I need help."
Kael stared.
"With what?"
Lyra's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I want you to beat someone for me."
Kael blinked again.
"That was not the answer I expected."
She folded her arms beneath her chest.
"Do you remember the bearded brute from the tavern this afternoon?"
Kael's expression darkened.
The vulgar giant who had stared at the women like meat.
"Oh."
He cracked his knuckles.
"That pig."
Lyra nodded.
"I saw him among the hunters."
"He's likely sleeping inside the Ancient War Camp ruins tonight."
Kael grinned.
"Well, that sounds fun."
Then he paused.
His expression shifted.
He suddenly looked conflicted.
Lyra raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Kael scratched his head awkwardly.
"Before we left Vane's Summit... I promised Master I wouldn't cause unnecessary trouble."
Lyra stared at him.
"We would be punishing filth."
"Master tends to define trouble very broadly."
"We go quietly."
Lyra stepped closer.
"She'll never know."
Kael hesitated.
Lyra's voice softened.
"And if she somehow finds out... I'll take responsibility."
Kael still looked uncertain.
Lyra narrowed her eyes.
"Well?"
He swallowed.
"For you, Shreve…"
He exhaled dramatically.
"I'll risk it."
Lyra smiled.
Then Kael awkwardly added—
"Though..."
Her brow lifted.
"Though what?"
Kael suddenly looked embarrassed.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
Even he seemed ashamed of whatever he was about to say.
Lyra stared at him.
Then slowly—
very slowly—
her lips curved.
She stepped forward until her face was only inches from his.
Her breath brushed his skin.
Her voice became velvet.
"What is it, little one?"
And Kael forgot how to breathe.
Kael caught the scent before his thoughts could catch up.
It hit him like warm wine poured over open flame—orchid sweetness tangled with musk, rich and dizzying and dangerously feminine. Then he looked down.
And nearly forgot his own name.
Lyra stood so close that the soft curve of her chest hovered inches from him, pressing against the front of his robe whenever she breathed. The thin silk she wore did absolutely nothing to hide the full weight of her body. The peaks beneath the fabric strained visibly.
Kael's mouth went dry.
His heartbeat turned savage.
Lyra tilted her head and watched him suffer.
"Well?" she murmured.
Her blue eyes shimmered in the moonlight like deep water.
"What exactly do you want?"
Kael swallowed hard.
This was dangerous ground.
Very dangerous ground.
But he had already agreed to help her punish the fat bearded brute who had been trafficking human flesh, and if he was going to risk Isara finding out—
He might as well get something from it.
He forced a grin onto his face.
"If Shreve Lyra is feeling generous…" he said carefully, "perhaps during your free time you could teach me a few things."
Lyra blinked.
"A few things?"
Kael nodded eagerly.
"The Artificer's Art. Wardplate Mastery. Construct-work. Maybe how you made that giant crystal brute of yours."
He coughed awkwardly.
"You know. Basic life skills."
Lyra stared at him.
Then slowly leaned back.
And suddenly looked offended.
"You little bastard," she said flatly. "Did you just negotiate with me?"
Kael immediately raised both hands.
"Negotiate is such an ugly word."
"It is exactly the word."
"I prefer 'mutually beneficial spiritual exchange.'"
Her eyes narrowed.
"I could have taught you willingly," she said coldly. "But I despise being leveraged."
Kael's smile became strained.
"I wasn't leveraging. I was respectfully begging."
Lyra folded her arms beneath her chest.
That somehow made things worse.
Kael looked away and immediately looked back because somehow that was worse too.
Then Lyra's expression changed.
A slow smile spread across her lips.
Beautiful.
Cruel.
"Oh," she said softly. "I just remembered something."
Kael's stomach dropped.
"What?"
"Well…" she said casually. "Last night I couldn't sleep."
"That sounds healthy."
"So I took a walk around Vane's Summit."
Kael's face stiffened.
Lyra continued.
"And during that walk…"
Her smile widened.
"I passed by a certain room."
Kael stopped breathing.
"What room?"
"Oh, nothing special." She waved a hand lazily. "But I heard strange noises."
Kael felt cold sweat forming down his neck.
"Strange… noises?"
"Mhm."
She stepped closer again.
"I was curious."
Kael's soul began leaving his body.
"So naturally…"
She leaned up and whispered into his ear.
"I watched."
Kael turned white.
Lyra giggled like a devil wearing a goddess's face.
"You know what I saw?"
Kael's voice shook.
"What?"
"I saw two very naughty little disciples."
Kael nearly died on the spot.
"One of them," Lyra continued sweetly, "had tied up a very beautiful girl…"
Kael made a strangled sound.
"And then," she purred, "that shameless little beast started removing her clothes—"
"STOP!"
Kael nearly tackled her.
"I surrender! I surrender!"
Lyra burst into laughter.
Kael looked ready to jump into the swamp and drown himself.
"I'll do it!" he shouted. "I'll beat the beard off that bastard tonight!"
Lyra smiled triumphantly.
"That's what I thought."
She turned and glided toward the Ancient War Camp.
Kael stumbled after her in total despair.
"Please," he begged. "Please don't tell my master."
"That depends."
"On what?"
"Your future behavior."
Kael nearly cried.
"I'll behave!"
Lyra smirked.
"And your fellow disciples?"
Kael paled further.
"You can't tell them either."
"That depends."
"On what?!"
"Whether I'm entertained."
Kael looked like a condemned man walking to execution.
Then the night changed.
A streak of green fire rose silently over the distant horizon.
Both of them stopped.
The emerald flame arced through the sky—
—and plunged into the Ancient War Camp.
Lyra's expression sharpened instantly.
Kael frowned.
"What was—"
Then twenty more followed.
Then fifty.
Then hundreds.
Green fire screamed across the night sky like falling stars from hell.
They rained into the camp.
For one breath—
silence.
Then came the screaming.
Men howled.
Horses shrieked.
Panic exploded across the ruins.
The quiet night shattered.
Lyra's face darkened.
"Hellfire."
Kael's blood ran cold.
He had heard of it.
A vile undead flame that clung to flesh, boiled blood, and could not be extinguished through ordinary means.
Then came another sound.
A low—
ancient—
inhuman horn.
BWOOOOOOOOOM—
The noise rolled across Gravecut like the roar of a dead god.
The ground trembled.
Kael felt every hair on his body rise.
The Ancient War Camp erupted into chaos.
Tents burned.
Supply wagons exploded.
Mercenaries fled in every direction.
Others rushed toward the camp in confusion.
Men collided.
Screamed.
Trampled each other.
Then Lyra moved.
"Someone's attacking."
She shot forward like a streak of silver moonlight.
Kael cursed and chased after her.
Then he felt it.
The earth shaking harder.
Rhythmic.
Violent.
Like thunder.
Hoofbeats.
Kael frowned in disbelief.
"Who in the abyss rides horses through this swamp?"
Then he saw them.
And wished he hadn't.
Outside the camp, fifty Iron Maw Legion shield infantry had already formed ranks.
Tower shields slammed together.
Axes raised.
Veteran soldiers stood ready.
Then the riders emerged from darkness.
A hundred of them.
Perfect formation.
Perfect silence.
Black armor gleamed beneath ghostfire.
Black shields.
Black spears.
Their mounts moved like warhorses.
Until the green fire revealed the truth.
Kael's eyes widened.
The horses were skeletal.
So were the riders.
Blood-red skeletons clad in black steel thundered toward the camp.
"By all gods—"
The first line of mercenaries never had a chance.
Spears punched through torsos.
Bodies were launched screaming into the air.
Blood painted the night.
The skeletal cavalry crashed through the camp like a tidal wave of death.
They trampled men beneath bone hooves.
Split skulls.
Impaled fleeing hunters.
Kael stared in disbelief.
"What level of monster army is this?"
His Vitae erupted.
The Sundering Flame Art roared through his channels.
Fire spread beneath his skin.
Lyra didn't answer.
She was already sprinting toward the slaughter.
The mercenaries fought back desperately.
Some were skilled killers.
Seasoned outlaws.
It didn't matter.
They died in droves.
Anyone fleeing the battlefield was struck by green fire from the darkness.
They dropped screaming as their flesh burned emerald.
Even the Iron Maw soldiers began wavering.
Kael saw fear spreading through their formation.
Then officers roared commands.
"Hold the line!"
"SHIELDS!"
The soldiers regrouped.
Their discipline returned.
Massive round shields locked together.
Axes rose behind the wall.
A fortress of steel.
Then the skeletal cavalry split apart.
Something enormous burst through the center.
A war chariot.
Three armored skeletal horses dragged it forward at terrifying speed.
It smashed directly into the shield wall.
CRASH.
Men exploded backward.
Bones shattered.
Bodies folded unnaturally.
Several soldiers died instantly before they even hit the ground.
The formation broke open.
Iron Maw soldiers surged forward screaming.
Axes slammed into the chariot.
Sparks flew.
Nothing happened.
The black vehicle was nearly indestructible.
Then an officer roared and charged.
He raised his axe—
A red flash.
And he split in half from chest to groin.
Blood erupted into the air.
Standing atop the war chariot was a towering skeleton clad in crimson armor.
Its eye sockets burned green.
It grinned.
And swung a massive curved blade.
Three shields split apart.
Three heads flew into darkness.
Bodies collapsed in fountains of blood.
The surviving soldiers broke.
Terror consumed them.
The skeletal cavalry surged through the opening.
They split the remaining defenders apart and butchered them in isolated pockets.
The crimson skeletal commander laughed as it drove through the battlefield.
Blades mounted on both wheels spun violently.
They carved through legs.
Arms.
Torsos.
Men were shredded into wet ruin.
The Ancient War Camp—
silent for a thousand years—
became a slaughterhouse once more.
Then Lyra arrived.
A skeletal horse charged her.
Without even looking fully at it, she flicked her sleeve.
CRACK.
The horse spun sideways.
Its rider was hurled into the air.
Bone shattered on impact.
Lyra didn't pursue.
She closed her eyes.
Whispered.
White vapor began pouring into existence before her.
It thickened rapidly.
Swirling.
Growing.
Expanding until it concealed her entire body.
Kael arrived seconds later with a furious roar.
He launched himself into the skeletal cavalry.
The Eight-Claw Flamescourge exploded from his sleeve.
The segmented whip screamed through the air like a living dragon of fire.
It tore straight toward the crimson skeletal commander.
And behind him—
Lyra opened her eyes.
"Rise."
The white mist exploded apart.
Something enormous stood within it.
A giant.
More than fifteen feet tall.
Carved entirely from blue crystal.
Massive shoulders.
Tree-trunk limbs.
Muscles like sculpted stone.
Its faceless head slowly tilted.
As if waking from a pleasant nap.
Then the Stone Colossus took its first step.
And the battlefield shook.