A fragile truce held beneath the eternal gaze of the Blackstone Peaks, bound only by a shared, poison-tipped hatred for Gromm the Spinebreaker.
The scree slope beneath them was treacherously steep. Each step felt like wrestling stone into silence, a misstep away from ending broken at the bottom.
Ellis Vane's boot slipped on loose rock. She scrambled, needing hands and feet, sharp grit grinding into her palms. Every breath brought the thin air's chill, laced with dust.
Caius Thorne's presence was an ice pick lodged in the nerves of both Ellis and Lumi. He never touched their rations. He showed no interest in the small creatures they passed. Sometimes, Ellis almost forgot the pale traveler's true nature—he felt more like a constant hum, embodied unsettling silence.
When the sun beat down mercilessly on the exposed land, Caius shrank into a small, unnervingly quiet bat. He'd slip soundlessly into the worn canvas pouch strapped to Ellis's outer thigh. The weight of him pulled with each step. She could feel the small, coiled shape through the fabric.
Ellis caught her gaze drifting to that worn canvas surface. Her fingers sometimes brushed the edge of the pouch, half-expecting crimson eyes to open beneath the cloth, or a razor-edged comment to drift out.
Truth was, she'd started hoping for it. Anything to break the suffocating quiet. But only silence answered. Through the rough fabric, she felt the faint beat of the creature's heart, and a coolness… not of life, like holding a stone that refused to warm.
Lumi, ever vigilant, kept a hunter's watch. As twilight swallowed the light and shadows deepened, Caius would unfold without a sound. The wandering witch's scrutiny sharpened like a freshly honed blade. She'd dealt with vampires before. But Caius… was different.
His movements held an odd languor, like a cat stretching after a nap, almost harmless. He'd simply walk away—no greeting, no gesture—as if briefly dissolving into shadow before naturally returning.
He spoke rarely, his voice quiet, carrying a cold detachment steeped in ages. He observed their struggles on the path like some curious experiment.
Sometimes, though, he'd vanish like smoke into the dusk, returning with something useful: a rare herb Lumi had searched for, cupped in his palm; or a flat-toned warning about which fork held danger, which pass sheltered beasts.
It… was helpful. So helpful that Ellis's initial burning fury cooled, day by silent day, into a wary acceptance. He never tried to drink from them. Only when she stumbled or struggled on a climb might he murmur "Pup" with a hint of mockery—and when she glared back, that faint, knowing tilt of his lips said he enjoyed it.
One razor-edged evening, they huddled in a shallow scoop of rock. A tiny fire, coaxed by Lumi, cast an eerie green glow, illuminating her sharp features and unruly brown hair. Ellis rubbed her frozen fingers, gaze drifting past the weak flame to Caius in the dusk. He was a blurred silhouette, staring north towards peaks like fangs stabbing the leaden sky, as if locked in silent contemplation.
"He's not what I expected."Ellis finally whispered, the wind snatching her words.
Lumi gave a short, sharp laugh. "Huh! Thought it'd be fangs dripping, cape swirling, straight out of some old tale? Things that live millennia? Either complex as a locked book, or bored down to an empty husk. Sometimes, it's both." She poked the glowing moss with a stick. Sparks jumped.
Ellis was quiet a moment, fingers unconsciously tracing the cold, rough rock beneath her. "At least… so far, he's been a decent ally," she offered, groping for the right word.
"Decent?" Lumi's voice dropped lower, her eyes piercing the thick gloom where Caius stood—a darkness that seemed to pulse around him. "Vampires are masters of playing long games with grudges, sweetheart. Especially against those who've 'tainted' their precious bloodlines." She paused, choosing her words. "Caius Thorne and the Spinebreaker have a blood debt between them. Deep enough to drown in. That makes him a… useful knife."
She tilted her head slightly, her gaze like needles piercing the vampire's outline. "But remember, dear, even a useful knife has two edges. Cutting yourself is easier than cutting the enemy…" Her tone shifted, pointed. "…And vampire hearing? Sharper than an owl's at midnight."
Caius didn't turn. But his voice, threaded with low amusement, cut clearly through the fire's crackle and the wind's howl, as if spoken beside them. "An astute observation, Ms. Lumi."
He slowly turned just his head. Silver eyes, catching the flickering green flame in the gloom, fixed on them. The cold gaze seemed to shift in the eerie light. "Though I might be… more complex than you think." The words were flat, yet they dropped into the frigid silence like a stone into deep water, sending ripples through the night.
They traveled along the cliff face for several more days and nights. One last canyon lay between them and the damned Blackstone Peaks.
A deep, jagged chasm split the earth before them, its sheer walls like the axe blows of some titan. Far below, meltwater roared through the shadowed depths, its thunderous crash echoing upwards. Icy spray whipped their faces, carrying flecks of white foam.
The narrow path they followed offered no margin for error. One misstep meant the abyss. Ellis was carefully picking her way forward when Caius, leading, abruptly raised a hand.
"Stop!" His low voice cut through the din. Every muscle in Ellis's body snapped taut.
"What is it?" she demanded, instantly alert.
Caius tilted his head slightly, nostrils flared almost imperceptibly. His sharp gaze locked onto the fractured cliffs high above. "The stone… it whispers."
No sooner had he spoken—
High on the cliff face, a massive section of rock fractured without warning. It peeled away, collapsing with a sickening, grinding roar. Several enormous boulders, carrying crushing force, plummeted straight toward the narrow stretch of path where they stood!
"Down! Get flat!" Lumi's shout ripped through the air. She blurred into motion, one hand snagging Ellis's collar and yanking hard, the other snapping upwards in a warding gesture.
Caius moved faster than sight. One moment he stood on the path's edge; the next, he melted into the deepest shadow, leaving only a faint ripple in the air.
CRUNCH-THUD!
The destructive force swallowed everything. Lumi stood braced in front of Ellis, one hand raised. A shimmering shield etched with arcane glyphs flared to life, deflecting the worst of the falling rock. But coarse dust billowed like fog, choking her, filling her nose and mouth. Ellis coughed violently, her vision dimming, lungs burning. The world shrank to deafening noise, tearing pain in her chest, and suffocating grey.
The dust hadn't settled when three massive shapes emerged from the swirling chaos.
Hunched yet hulking, they were twisted parodies of men seemingly shaped from the canyon's roughest stone. Their faces were indistinct, deep-set sockets holding only dim red embers like dying coals. Grey-black skin, cracked and moss-streaked, was rough as wind-scoured cliff faces. Limbs thick as stone piers ended in huge, knuckled fists.
"Ha! Rock trolls!" Lumi's lips curled into her habitual wild sneer. "Good. I was itching for a fight!" She flexed her fingers, dangerous golden light flickering at her fingertips.
"Not mere trolls. Gromm's hounds." Caius had straightened silently. Despite the smear of grime marring his immaculate black-and-crimson coat, he flicked dust off his sleeve with a pale finger, his expression one of fastidious disdain.
Lumi barked a mocking laugh. "Since when do werewolves command stone puppets?"
Caius's gaze remained fixed on the advancing brutes, his voice unnervingly calm. "Didn't I tell you? He's stolen power not his own. Seems these lumps of rock are his new toys."
Before the words faded, the lead brute—a nine-foot-tall fortress of moving stone—let out a roar like boulders tumbling down a gorge. Its massive arm swung high. A fist like a siege hammer tore through lingering dust and smashed down toward Lumi's head with mountain-crushing force. The wind blast flattened their clothing against them.