g silently, hiding secrets among the cliffs. Asha awoke with a start, still f

not on

walked among the stone shelters that served as their refuge. The scent of damp earth and ash floated i

arm dangling like a dead branch. It was more than a crust of obsidian: it now reached his shoulder, with gray veins

, but she didn't want to pretend everything was okay eit

," Kael murmured

swall

gotten

en he turned to her, Asha noticed a thin, stony line across

ng down at his right arm. "I felt like they didn't belo

retorted immediately, t

the

stone broke the stillness. Asha felt a pang of helplessness. She had held life in her hands, revived dead memorie

ael said, as if reading her thoughts. "That as long as you ke

," Asha replied, her vo

hought of the first time she had seen him, in the temple corridors, when he had been her jailer and she had been

" she asked, b

hook h

pain. It's

chilled

iately. His touch was still warm, still him. She clung to that h

. "We'll find the fragments, we'll reactivate th

lf," he said gently. "In case that mo

at burned in her throat. She didn't want promises of death

tracing lines on the rock with natural pigments. Seeing them, she sto

has he go

neck," Asha

t a surprise. Just confir

emories may be useful. There are ancient records of living obsidian.

urpose?" Asha asked, feeli

and Kael is protecting it, he may be absorbing some o

ace. Asha noticed that she wasn't touching anything with her

fter a pause. "The old women say it may be the gateway to a

a said before K

." he m

f there's something in that rift, something

The decision

tly, the embers of the fire illuminating his face with a flickering light. The stone seemed to advance m

a rock, watching the stars, drawing with

et there in time?"

Lirien replied without looking at her. "

at purpose? To

Keepers feared so much they tried to bury. Kael i

hake her, but she knew Lirien wasn't speaking from cruelty

n't want to b

de when to burn...

r of a distant rumble. A crack ope

hey burned with the same promise she held in the palm of her hand: t

lso knew that every step toward that crack was a step toward som

e them