The wind howled as if warning them not to stop.
Kael's boots were caked with blood and ice. The woods had thinned into jagged terrain—sharp stone and bramble stretching like fingers toward the western cliffs. The entrance to the sanctuary was near, hidden somewhere in the mouth of the Elevar gorges.
He could feel it.
But so could they.
The men following them weren't loud. They were trained—Kael could tell from the way their footsteps echoed in short bursts, then vanished. From the way birds didn't return to their nests. From the way shadows moved just a breath slower than the wind.
Three of them. Maybe more.
The priestess moved ahead, hood drawn low, her staff disguised as a walking stick. Seraphina remained pressed against Kael's chest, her divine light once again dimmed.
He whispered to her, "Don't glow, little star. Just a bit longer."
She didn't stir.
They turned a corner—a narrow canyon path cutting through stone and briar. It led toward the gorge. Toward the sanctuary. The cliffs to either side were too steep to climb, too narrow to maneuver through easily. Which meant—
"This is where they'll strike," Kael muttered under his breath.
He handed Seraphina to the priestess, gently but urgently. "Keep walking. Don't stop. When you see the carved lion's maw in the stone, go right. There's a slit in the rock—it leads to the hidden gate."
The priestess stared at him. "You can't fight them alone."
"I've done worse," Kael said grimly.
She hesitated. "If you fall, she—"
"She won't. Because I won't."
He pulled his dagger. His last weapon. His last promise.
The priestess gave him a look—something between grief and faith—then turned and walked forward, holding Seraphina close.
Kael crouched behind the bend.
Waited.
The first man was foolish.
He didn't expect a blade in the dark.
Kael sprang, silent as frost. The dagger plunged into the side of the man's throat before he could shout. The body hit the snow with a dull thud.
One down.
The second appeared moments later—trained better, blade drawn. He spotted Kael instantly.
Their weapons met in a hiss of steel and breath.
Kael's muscles screamed from the strain. He was still half-starved, half-wounded—but rage gave him strength. He pivoted, letting the man's momentum carry him forward, then drove his blade under the ribcage.
A gasp. A stumble. A fall.
Two down.
He ducked low just in time to avoid an arrow—whizzing past his ear.
The third stood at the mouth of the canyon, bow half-drawn, eyes wide.
"Shit," the man muttered, reaching for another arrow.
Kael didn't wait.
He ran.
Boots thundering through snow, slipping on rock, dagger clenched in bloodied fingers. The archer panicked, fumbled.
Too late.
Kael tackled him to the ground. The bow flew from the man's hand. A fist to the face. Then another. Then—
The dagger.
Three down.
He didn't stop to check for a fourth.
He turned and sprinted down the path.
The priestess had vanished into the gorge.
Good.
He followed, blood dripping from his arm, lungs aching, legs heavy.
Then he saw it.
The lion's maw.
A carved face in the cliffside, half-covered in moss. Just beyond it—a fissure in the rock, narrow but tall.
He squeezed through.
Inside, it was pitch-black.
But he kept moving.
The sanctuary wasn't far now.
He found them a few minutes later.
The priestess knelt beside a wall covered in ivy and stone glyphs. Her hand rested against it.
Seraphina sat beside her, now alert, eyes shining faintly.
"We're here," Kael said, breathless.
The priestess didn't turn. "The gate is sealed. It hasn't been opened in decades."
Kael grimaced. "Then unseal it."
"I'm trying," she hissed.
Seraphina stood—wobbly on her feet. She had never walked before.
Kael froze. "Wait—don't—"
The child took one step.
Then another.
Her hand touched the stone wall.
The glyphs flared.
Light exploded outward, rippling across the sanctuary gate like molten fire.
The wall groaned, the stone parted.
And before them, a path opened—lit by golden flame.
Kael stared.
The priestess whispered, "She is more than a sign."
Kael laughed. "She's a gods-damned miracle."
The priestess smiled faintly.
Then they stepped inside.
And the sanctuary welcomed them.