“It’s difficult to say.” She stood, smoothing her long braids over her shoulders. “But given the grouping, they were at least incapacitated before the fire consumed them.”
The captain removed his hat, his mouth set in a grim line. “How long ago?”
Dr. Mercer’s answer landed like a hammer. “Twenty to thirty years.”
Lewis paled. “That’s not possible.”
Commander Thorne turned, his eyes narrowed. “Explain.”
“The botany doesn’t match,” Lewis said, voice tight. “There’s no fire damage to the surrounding plants, and the youngest bordering trees are at least fifty years old. How does a blaze large enough to burn dozens of people leave the foliage untouched?”
Commander Thorne knelt, rubbing silvery dust between his fingers. “Cinderbind.”
Vivienne’s inhale snagged. The powder matched the contents of Florence’s bottle.
“Which means,” Thorne said, his voice a low growl, “whoever did this used everburn.”
The realization clicked into place.
A weighted hush fell. Vivienne swallowed against the knot in her throat.Gods. Please let them have been dead before the flames took them.
Captain Garrett bowed his head. “Crew, a moment of reverence. May they return to the embrace of the eternal glade.”
Around her, the sailors removed their hats, murmuring prayers in hushed voices. Several arranged their arms and hands into the different prayer postures of their heritage lands. Vivienne vacillated, then reached for Lewis’ hand on one side and Commander Thorne’s on the other, in the prayer customs of Fendwyr, tipping her face toward the sky.
* * *
As the sun dipped low,Captain Garrett called for camp to be made within the ruins. There was no chance of making the seven-hour trek back before nightfall.
Vivienne and Lewis had spent hours exploring, while Cirrus, still avoiding her, charted the ruins’ layout. The heart of the site was a vast courtyard, flagstones cracked and overtaken by moss. Surrounding structures, once homes or shops, had long since crumbled, their skeletal remains open to the sky. But the carvings were what captivated her, etched into walls, broken pillars, and shattered statues. Some were too worn to decipher, but others held enough detail to spark her imagination.
The central tower stood tall above them, its stonework eerily untouched by time. Vivienne’s pulse quickened. “Lewis!” she called. “Let’s go in there”
As they crossed the courtyard, a faint crackling sound halted them.
“Where is that coming from?” Vivienne whispered.
Lewis grinned. “Tendrilis serpens. We studied them on the ship. They’re the fast-growing vines.”
They approached a wall thick with dark green tendrils, their broad leaves and sharp thorns crawling upward at a visible pace. The vines crackled as they spread, growing a sixteenth of an inch every minute.
“If we’d arrived a few years later, the ruins might have been completely hidden,” Vivienne murmured.
“Better this thanMortivora arbori,” Lewis muttered.
Vivienne shuddered. “The one that looks like a large Venus flytrap?”
“The same,” he confirmed. “The field sketches alone are nightmare fuel. I’d rather not see one in person.”
Leaving the vines behind, they stepped through the arched doorway of the tower. The air inside congealed with dust and the scent of damp stone, the only light filtering through narrow windows.
As her eyes adjusted, Vivienne froze. Every inch of the smooth stone walls was covered in carvings. She traced the ancient etchings with her fingertips, awe humming in her chest.
“What do you think this place was?” Lewis asked, hushed.
“A temple, maybe,” Vivienne whispered. “Or something else entirely. This civilization was far more advanced than we thought.”
Moving around the circular chamber, they studied the carvings. The lowest panels depicted a thriving society, figures harvesting crops, using plants for medicine, and worshipping beneath a full moon. Animals she didn’t recognize roamed the scenes. And at the center of many, an unmistakable goddess.
