Chapter 162: Book 3: Carusath, City of Fire and Brimstone
The city Naru rules is apparently called Carusath. The name's familiar to me—it's the one Tarin cried out when he was pretending to be working for Naru, back in Isthanok—but what I wasn't expecting is how hot the place is. We're not even in the city itself and I can feel the heat radiating out from the literal crater the city is built in.
"You live here?" I ask in disbelief. Naru glares at me.
"And?" There's a note of challenge in his voice.
"Just... nevermind." I shake my head. I'm not going to get into it with him. I prefer my climates cold, but considering Naru can apparently boil a pond just by diving into it, I assume he has a different relationship with heat than I do.
My gaze lingers on what little of the city I can glimpse over the edge of the crater. It doesn't look like it's the most well-maintained place—the buildings are full of cracks, each one looking like they've been haphazardly pieced together from broken and crumbled stone. They're kept together only barely by plugs of golden Firmament that seal the cracks together.
There's the sound, too. It doesn't sound like any city I've ever been to. Isthanok is loud and bustling, and even the crow village is often filled with the chatter of the villagers. Carusath, by contrast, sounds... angry. The few voices that rise far enough out of the crater to reach me sound violent, and my Firmament sense confirms bursts of power that feel like people fighting.
No surprise that the city looks half-destroyed, if this is the norm. I glance to Naru to see if he's at all concerned about it, but he doesn't seem to care.
"We're not here for you to tour the city," Naru grunts, noticing the look I'm giving him. "You can sightsee some other time."
"That's not exactly what was on my mind," I say dryly. "There are people fighting down there. Aren't you worried?"