We walked out of the Ashen Expanse as the sun rose behind us.
The grey light faded, replaced by the pale gold of early morning. The ash beneath our feet gave way to hard-packed earth and scattered stones. By midday, we could see green again. Grass. Trees. Life.
I hadn't realized how much the Expanse had been weighing on me until we left it behind. It was like a pressure I'd been carrying in my chest had finally released. The shard still pulsed, steady and warm, but it no longer felt like it was pulling me toward something.
"Remind me never to go back there," Clara said, shaking ash from her cloak.
"I don't think we'll need to."
"Good. Because if I never see another pile of grey dust again, it'll be too soon."
Aurelia smiled. It was small, but it was there. "You handled it well."
"I complained the entire time."
"That's what I said."
Clara rolled her eyes, but there was affection in it.
We walked in companionable silence for a while. The road back to the demon territories was long, but the terrain was easier now. Gentle hills and shallow valleys, with streams running clear and cold. We refilled our water skins at every opportunity.
At one point, Clara spotted a rabbit in the underbrush. Before any of us could react, she'd pulled a small sling from her pocket and brought it down with a single, perfectly aimed stone.
Aurelia stared.
"When did you learn to use a sling?" she demanded.
"The kitchen maid. The one who taught me snares."
"That's not a kitchen skill, Clara."
"She was a very interesting kitchen maid."
I laughed. Clara grinned. Aurelia shook her head in despair.
We ate well that night.
Three days later, we reached the border of the demon territories.
The change was immediate. The air grew warmer, tinged with the faint smell of sulfur. The trees twisted into the familiar ember-leaved shapes I'd known for six hundred years. The sky took on a reddish tint, especially near the horizon.
Home.
I hadn't expected to feel that word anymore. For so long, the demon territories had been a prison. A stage for the same endless play, repeated a hundred times with only minor variations. But now, walking back with the Saintess and her sister at my side, it felt different.
It felt like something worth protecting.
"We should reach the first village by nightfall," I said. "We can resupply there."
"If it's still standing," Clara said.
"Clara," Aurelia warned.
"What? I'm being realistic. The Holy Army was marching. We don't know what happened while we were gone."
I didn't answer. Because she was right.
We kept walking.
The village was gone.
Not destroyed. Not burned. Gone. The stone houses had been dismantled, the wood carried away, the fields left fallow. The only sign that anyone had ever lived there was a single well, its bucket still hanging from the rope.
"The demons evacuated," I said. "They knew the army was coming."
"Or they were taken," Clara said quietly.
"Taken where?"
I looked around. The ground was churned with the marks of many feet. Not the orderly march of soldiers. This was the chaotic stampede of civilians fleeing for their lives.
"They went north," I said. "Toward the mountains. The old fortress at Blackfang Pass. It's the most defensible position in the territory."
Aurelia studied the tracks. "They left in a hurry. Probably days ago."
"Then the army isn't far behind."
We exchanged a look.
"We follow them," I said. "If my people are at Blackfang Pass, that's where Vex will be. And if Vex is there, he'll know what's happened."
The road to Blackfang Pass was a trail of devastation.
Villages abandoned. Fields trampled. Smoke rising from distant fires, black against the red sky. We passed the remains of a supply caravan, its wagons overturned and its goods scattered across the ground. No bodies. Either the demons had escaped, or someone had taken the dead.
"The army is close," Aurelia said. "The tracks are fresh."
"How close?" Clara asked.
"Hours. Maybe less."
I reached out with my senses. The familiar scents of the demon territories filled my nose. Sulfur and ash and iron. But underneath them, something else. Sweat. Steel. The faint, acrid smell of holy oil.
"Three miles," I said. "The main force is three miles east of here."
"Then they'll reach the pass by tomorrow morning," Aurelia said.
"We need to get there first."
We ran.
Blackfang Pass came into view as the sun set.
It was a fortress carved into the side of the mountain, its walls black and jagged against the red sky. Even from a distance, I could see the banners flying from the towers. Vex's banner. The silver serpent on a field of black.
The pass was packed with demons. Civilians mostly, huddled in makeshift camps along the mountain slopes. Soldiers patrolled the walls, their armor glinting in the fading light.
I saw Vex before he saw me.
He was standing on the main gate, his massive form silhouetted against the sky. His tail lashed behind him as he shouted orders to the soldiers below. Even from here, I could feel his exhaustion. His fear.
"Vex!" I called.
He turned. His yellow eyes found me in the crowd, and for a moment, he just stared.
Then he was moving. Pushing through the mass of refugees, his heavy boots thundering on the stone.
"Your Majesty!" His voice cracked. "You're alive!"
"Barely." I clasped his arm as he reached me. "Report."
His face was grim. "The Holy Army marched on the castle three days after you left. We held for two days, but they brought siege engines. And priests. So many priests."
"The wards?"
"Overwhelmed. We had to retreat. We've been falling back ever since, gathering civilians along the way." He glanced at Aurelia and Clara, his expression hardening. "The Saintess."
"She's with me."
"I can see that. Is she why the army is here? Because they want her back?"
"They want more than that. But yes, she's part of it."
Vex's tail lashed. "Then we should give her to them. Maybe they'll leave us alone."
"Not an option."
"Your Majesty—"
"I said no, Vex."
Our eyes met. For a long moment, neither of us backed down.
Then Vex sighed, his massive shoulders slumping. "As you command, Your Majesty."
I turned to look at the fortress. The walls. The refugees. The soldiers preparing for a siege that might not be survivable.
"How many can fight?" I asked.
"Maybe two thousand. Against an army of twenty."
I closed my eyes.
Twenty thousand human soldiers, backed by priests and siege engines and the full might of the Holy Church. Against two thousand demons, exhausted and demoralized, with nowhere left to run.
"We need a miracle," I said quietly.
Aurelia stepped forward. "Or we need a different kind of weapon."
She looked at me. Her eyes were glowing again, gold and white. The resonance between us hummed in the air, and I felt the shards respond.
"The Harmony Pulse," she said. "You and me. Together."
Clara grabbed her arm. "Lyra, the System warned you. Overuse will destabilize the loop."
"The loop is already destabilizing. And if we don't do something, everyone in this fortress dies."
"She's right," I said. "But we can't just unleash it blindly. We need a plan."
Vex looked between us, confused. "What are you two talking about? What's a Harmony Pulse?"
I met his eyes. "Something new. Something that might give us a chance."
The air shimmered.
SYSTEM ALERT
WARNING: The Holy Army will arrive at dawn.
Current Loop Stability: -3%
Quest Updated: Defend Blackfang Pass
Objective: Survive the siege.
Reward: Loop Stability -5%, Affection +15, Next Fragment Location Unlocked
Failure: Death. Permanent.
I read the notification twice.
Then I looked at the sky. The first stars were appearing, faint pinpricks of light in the red darkness.
Dawn, I thought.
We have until dawn.
End of Chapter 22