Darkness gave way to fire.
Sunrei awoke choking on smoke, his body sprawled across broken cobblestones. The sky burned violet overhead, the air thick with the stench of charred flesh and something older something alive.
He pushed himself up, his hands slipping in warm ash. The village no, the city around him was unrecognizable. Buildings lay in ruins, their skeletal remains jutting toward the storm-wracked sky like the ribs of some great beast.
And the bodies.
Gods, the bodies.
Marked and unmarked alike lay scattered through the streets, their brands dark, their faces frozen in final screams.
A shadow fell over him.
Took you long enough.
Cael stood above him, his missing brand scar pulsing violently. Blood streaked his face, his clothes torn and singed. In his hands, he clutched a sword no, a brand, its edges glowing white-hot.
Sunrei's throat tightened. How long?
Three days. Cael hauled him upright with his free hand. The Eclipse took the capital. Lithriel's raising the Spire.
Sunrei followed his gaze.
At the city's heart, a tower of black glass climbed toward the heavens, its surface writhing with shadows. Even from here, he could feel it a pulse like a heartbeat, steady and growing stronger.
The Maw's Spire.
The Eclipse Crown.
Cael's grip tightened. Kaelis is inside.
Sunrei's brand screamed.
They moved through the ruins like ghosts.
The Eclipse prowled the streets, their hollow eyes scanning the rubble. Sunrei counted a dozen before Cael pulled him into the husk of a collapsed tavern.
They're hunting survivors, Cael whispered, pressing a dagger into Sunrei's hand. "Marked ones, mostly. Lithriel wants them alive.
Sunrei's fingers curled around the hilt. For the Spire.
Cael nodded. She's rebuilding the First Brand. And she needs parts.
A scream echoed in the distance cut short.
Sunrei's brand flared in response, its light seeping through his wrappings. He quickly covered it, but not before Cael's eyes dropped to his wrist.
You're different, Cael murmured. After the shore. After the brand.
Sunrei met his brother's gaze. What do you remember?
Cael's smile didn't reach his eyes. Enough to know we're already dead.
Then
A whisper:
Prince.
The tavern's shadows moved.
Sunrei reacted before his mind caught up dagger flashing, body twisting away. The blade sank into something soft and yielding, black fluid spraying across his face.
The Eclipse scout gurgled, its hollow eyes widening as it collapsed.
Cael cursed. They know we're here.
Shadows converged outside, their forms flickering between human and other.
Too many.
Sunrei grabbed Cael's arm. The Spire. Now.
They ran as the Eclipse gave chase, their footsteps shaking the ruined streets. The Spire loomed closer with every stride, its black surface reflecting the violet storm above.
A figure stood at its base.
Lithriel.
Her silver hair floated around her like a living thing, her hands pressed against the Spire's surface. At her feet lay Kaelis, her body limp, her brand dark.
Sunrei's breath caught.
Lithriel turned.
Ah, she crooned. The prodigal son returns.
Then she smiled.
And the Spire opened.
The inside of the Spire was worse than Sunrei imagined.
Walls of fused bone pulsed around them, their surfaces etched with brands hundreds, thousands of them. The air reeked of copper and something sweetly rotten, the floor slick with black fluid.
And at its center
Kaelis.
She hung suspended in a web of liquid shadow, her head lolled forward, her breathing shallow. Fresh brands marked her skin her arms, her throat, her face each pulsing in time with the Spire's heartbeat.
Sunrei lunged forward
Lithriel flicked her wrist.
The shadows moved, slamming into Sunrei with the force of a tidal wave. He hit the wall hard, bones rattling, his brand flaring in protest.
Patience, Prince, Lithriel chided. She's not yours anymore.
She pressed a hand to Kaelis's chest
and the brands ignited.
Kaelis's back arched, a silent scream tearing from her lips as the Spire shuddered.
Cael grabbed Sunrei's shoulder. She's remaking the First Brand.
Sunrei's vision swam. How do we stop it?
Cael's grip tightened. We don't.
Then he shoved Sunrei aside
and plunged his white-hot brand into his own chest.
Light erupted.
Cael's body burned from within, his missing brand scar splitting open like a second mouth. The Spire screamed, its walls cracking as the light spread, consuming the shadows.
Lithriel staggered back, her perfect face twisting in rage. No!
Kaelis fell from the web, her body crumpling to the floor. Sunrei caught her before she hit, his brand flaring in response to her fading pulse.
Cael met Sunrei's gaze across the chaos.
Remember your vow, he rasped.
Then
He exploded.
The blast threw Sunrei backward, Kaelis clutched tight against his chest. The Spire shattered around them, its fragments dissolving into ash before they hit the ground.
Silence.
Sunrei lifted his head.
Where the Spire had stood, only a crater remained. Of Cael, of Lithriel no sign.
Kaelis stirred in his arms, her brands dark but intact. Her eyelids fluttered open.
Sunrei? Her voice was raw. Did we win?
Sunrei looked down at his wrist.
His brand pulsed weakly, its light fading.
No, he whispered. We just woke up.
Above them, the violet storm pulsed.
And something stirred within it.
The first drop fell at dawn.
Black and thick, it struck Sunrei's cheek like a brand. He wiped it away, his fingers coming away stained.
Not blood.
Not rain.
Something else.
Kaelis's breath hitched. Oh, gods.
Sunrei followed her gaze.
The storm parted.
And the Maw looked down.