Sareth pivots away, issuing rapid commands to his warriors before returning his attention to me, obsidian scales glinting like wet stone in the tunnel's meager light.
“And, Sareth," I say, my voice dropping to that dangerous register that makes even my most battle-hardened warriors flinch, "Thorne himself may not have crossed our border, but his poison has. Flowing through the veins of my own people.”
I glance at Leira, her shoulders squared despite the shadows beneath her eyes, at Zara leaning against my side but still watching the tunnels with alert wariness. Nirik meets my gaze with determination, even as fresh crimson blooms through his bandages.
"Meet me with your Talons at the eastern base of the mountain," I decide. "Where the old training grounds meet the edge of the Ashlands. Bring healers for Nirik, and a securetransport for Leira and Zara back the Temple and under Eira’s watchful eye."
He inclines his head. "What of the rest of the conspirators? We have detained several russet-scaled females but found no evidence of TrueCoil markings among them."
"Release them," I command. "They are not our enemy. Focus a team of Talons on identifying any who might be connected to Naryth's network. Question all who had close access to him, especially in his final years."
"And Severa?" Sareth asks, the name causing my scales to tighten against my body. My personal den keeper, the female who has attended my household since I was barely more than a hatchling myself.
"Keep her under observation, but discretely," I say after a moment's hesitation. "If she is innocent, I would not have her dignity compromised. If guilty..." Heat ripples beneath my scales at the thought. "If guilty, I will deal with her myself."
"Understood." Sareth's gaze shifts slightly, looking beyond me to the tunnel walls. "Those passages have been sealed for generations.”
“Reopened by our enemy from within,” I hiss.
“What of Lurok?”
“Innocent,” I say. “I will send a team to try and break through the tunnel collapse he caused to give Leira Zara, and Nirik a chance to escape. Maybe he survived.”
"Lurok?" Sareth's surprise is evident in the flare of his nostrils. "I thought?—"
"As did I," I admit, regret a momentary weight in my chest. "I was wrong. He gave his life to ensure their escape. Had I trusted him sooner perhaps..." The thought trails off, useless now. "We will speak of it when we meet. Go now."
The serpentglass ripples as the connection terminates, returning to its dormant state. I pass the tablet back to Kessith,my mind already racing ahead to the challenges that await us above.
I nod once, decision made. "Balken, you will carry Nirik. The rest of you, form a protective formation around Leira and Zara. We head for the surface."
Balken moves forward to lift Nirik, arranging the wounded guard carefully across his powerful shoulders. The others form up around us, weapons drawn, senses alert. Their discipline steadies me, a reminder that not all loyalty has been corrupted, not all trust betrayed.
I lead my small party forward, into the twisting tunnels that will eventually bring us to the surface. To the broken land our ancestors once called home.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
LEIRA
The tunnel mouth breaks open before us like a wound in the mountain's side, spilling harsh dawn light that makes me flinch after hours in darkness. I stumble forward, Varok's steadying hand at my elbow the only thing keeping me upright as we emerge onto the broken skin of the Ashlands. The air hits my lungs like fire, dry, scalding, purged of moisture, and the horizon trembles in waves of rising heat that distort the jagged peaks of the Serpentspine Mountains against a sky bleeding from indigo to flame.
This desolation was once verdant naga territory before human weapons scorched it into oblivion. Now nothing grows here, just mile after mile of blackened earth cracked into hexagonal plates like shattered pottery. Obsidian spires thrust from the wasteland like accusing fingers, their surfaces catching the newborn sunlight and splitting it into painful, prismatic shards. Heat radiates from the ground itself, penetrating the thin soles of my shoes, a constant reminder that this land still burns from within, even centuries after its wounds were inflicted.
Zara presses closer to my side, her small hand clutching mine. Her violet scales look ashen in this punishing light, andthe exhaustion etched across her delicate features makes my heart clench with protective fury. Behind us, Nirik's breathing comes in labored rasps as Balken carries him, fresh blood darkening the bandages around his middle. We've all pushed beyond our limits, but Nirik most of all. The wound in his side needs proper healing, not the makeshift field medicine Gorlin administered in the tunnels.
"Look," Varok murmurs, his voice a low rumble against my ear as he points toward a plume of dust rising from the base of the mountain about half a mile distant.
I squint against the light, raising a hand to shield my eyes. Dark shapes materialize through the heat haze, a contingent of naga warriors moving with the synchronized precision of elite soldiers. Their scales catch the light in flashes of obsidian, emerald, and copper as they approach, weapons gleaming.
"Sareth," Varok confirms, his posture straightening, scales rippling with subtle tension. "Right on time."
We advance toward the meeting point, an ancient training ground where flat stone circles still mark combat rings, now half buried in drifting ash and cracked by centuries of relentless sun. My legs feel like water after our ordeal in the tunnels, but I refuse to show weakness. Not here. Not in front of warriors who already look at me as something less than them.
Sareth reaches us first, his massive form hulking even among the impressive physiques of his Talons. He drops into a formal bow before Varok, right fist pressed to his left shoulder in what I’ve learned is a traditional warrior's salute.
"Sovereign," he greets, his voice gravel-rough but steady. His gaze flicks briefly to me, then to Zara, assessing our condition with clinical precision. "The Temple has been notified of their recovery. Eira awaits them there.”
"Time grows short. Nirik needs immediate attention, and Zara and Leira must be returned to the Temple's protection."
