Chapter 19: Thorns, Mirrors, and a Goddess? - 1
The wind howled behind him.
Ash clung to Rein's skin like soot-laced sweat, stinging his eyes, drying his lips. He didn't know how long he'd been running since Zeraka vanished into the haze with that grin that haunted him more than her growl.
"Next time I catch you... I'm not letting you sleep in your own bed."
Her voice still echoed in his ribs.
But she hadn't followed.
Not yet.
Which was worse.
He crested a ridge, legs trembling, boots slick with black mud, and stumbled into a clearing that made him stop short.
A half-buried cathedral stretched before him.
Overgrown and cracked, its marble bones jutted out from the ash and moss like a fossil trying to resurrect itself.
Vines thick as his arm crawled across shattered stained glass.