Page 44 of Veinblood
The explosion didn’t just damage this room, it tore through half the keep. One entire wing has collapsed entirely, reduced to rubble that spills across what was once the inner courtyard.
The raven scours across what’s left of the keep, confirming that Sereven and his guards are gone—either dead, fled, or moved on in the time I’ve lost.
I send it out further, beyond the keep itself, searching the surrounding forest for any signs of life. But there are none. Nothing to hint that Ellie, Mira, or any of the people I brought with me are here at all.
Relief and concern war within me. I want to believe they weren’t killed in the explosion, there would be bodies if that was the case. So where are they? Did they escape? Were they discovered and captured? Each possibility brings new fears, and right now I have no way of knowing what the truth is.
I need to find them. I need to know they’re safe. Standing here, analyzing empty ruins won’t reunite me with Ellie, or help me discover what happened to Mira and the others.
I start with the room I’m in, examining every piece of rubble large enough to have pinned a person beneath it. The shadows respond eagerly to my instructions, slipping into cracks and crevices to search for any trace of her—a scrap of fabric, a drop of blood,anythingthat might tell me she was here. But I find nothing. Not even a hint that she might have been here and left before I arrived.
The hallway beyond tells the same story. Destruction, hasty abandonment, and no sign of Ellie. Tapestries have been torn, furniture overturned, even weapons have been left behind, but there are no people.
The silence surrounding me is absolute.
My search expands to the partially collapsed sections of the keep. Here the work becomes more dangerous, as loose stones shift underfoot and gaps in the floor open onto drops that could break bones if I step wrong. But I don’t let it deter me, and continue to search, calling Ellie’s name and listening for any response.
Nothing.
By high sun, I’ve searched every accessible part of Thornspire Keep, and the only thing I can confirm is that no one is here. I take the search beyond the keep, and into the forest. The raven scouts ahead while I move on foot, examining every disturbed patch of earth, every broken branch that might indicate where someone has passed.
The light is changing, becoming darker when the raven finally finds something. On a fallen log that’s partially obscured by undergrowth, there are marks carved into the wood thatwould be passed over by anyone who wasn’t looking down on it from a great height. Three parallel lines crossed by two diagonals. A Veinwarden sign.
The first sign leads me to a second, then a third, and I follow the trail of subtle markers through the forest. Some are stones arranged in patterns, scratches on bark, bits of fabric caught on thorns. All of them leading away from the keep, and deeper into the woods. Each sign confirms what I hoped—at least some of my people have survived.
It ends at a clearing where there are subtle signs suggesting someone camped here recently. Disturbed earth, half a boot print pressed into the soft soil. I stand in the center and turn in a slow circle.
The signs have led here for a reason, but what is it?
And then I see it. Beside a neat pile of stones near the center of the camp, there’s a small arrangement of objects. A piece of charcoal, three pebbles arranged in a triangle, and a broken twig pointing northeast.
It’s a code we used during missions before I was imprisoned. The charcoal means ‘take notice.’ The triangle indicates ‘we’re alive, but it was dangerous to stay here.’ The twig shows the direction they’ve taken. Mira must have left this for me.
I take note of the direction, then scatter the objects with my foot. Northeast. That’s all I have. A heading, and the knowledge that at least someone has survived the aftermath of Thornspire. But finding Ellie comes first.
I continue my search, sending the raven out to scour everypossible location where she might have appeared. Every cave, every clearing, every sheltered spot it sees, it examines. Hour after hour, I comb through the forest, and still I find nothing.
No trace of herorNyassa.
As day becomes night, I’m forced to accept what I’ve been fighting since my return. Ellie isn’t here. That means I have to make a decision that could determine both our fates.
Do I remain here and hope that Ellie finds me? Or do I follow the path Mira left and hope Ellie is with her? Both choices carry their own risks. If I stay and she’s with Mira, I abandon them all when they need me most. If I leave, and she returns here, she’ll find only empty ruins. She still doesn’t know enough of this world to be able to find me if I leave.
Duty that was drilled into me from the moment my powers revealed themselves tells me to follow Mira's trail. My people need their Vareth’el. But the thought of Ellie returning to find nothing but devastation, alone and lost in a world she barely understands …
I shake my head.
No. There has to be a third option I haven’t considered yet.
Chapter Thirteen
ELLIE
“What appears as weakness may be wisdom wearing different clothes.”
Wisdom of the Wandering Sages
Everything hurts.
