Chapter 189: Fractures Beneath the StoneThe dawn after Sophia’s vigil at the Monument broke unevenly across La Paz. The air was sharp and thin, tinged with the scent of woodsmoke drifting down from the high terraces. Citizens moved cautiously through the streets, glancing toward the Monument as tho
Chapter 188: Whispers Across the LatticeThe high valleys of La Paz were colder than Medellín had ever been. Snow still clung to the peaks, and the lattice ran thin over the city, whispering faintly with every gust of wind. Sophia’s caravan arrived at the outskirts before dawn, the chill cutting thr
Sophia stepped forward, kneeling to the boy. “Where?”“The southern gate,” he stammered. “They said the fire must be fed.”Sophia looked to her companions. “We can’t ignore this.”Raven snarled, “If you walk into their fire, they’ll burn you too.”“Then they’ll see me burn,” Sophia said, voice stead
Chapter 187: The Fractured FlameThe fourth dawn broke heavy and gray, smoke veiling the sun until it seemed the sky itself had dimmed in mourning. Sophia rose before the others, her back stiff from another night on stone floors, her palm bandaged but throbbing still with the memory of the Monument’
Chapter 186: Ash and ReverenceThe morning after the fire’s surge, Medellín was cloaked in smoke. Ash drifted across the streets like slow snowfall, settling on rooftops and covering abandoned carts. The Monument of Fury loomed at the city’s center, no longer raging skyward but pulsing steadily, its
The soldier spat. “Space won’t hold when the sky comes down.” Still, he barked orders, clearing a path to the square.---The Monument towered before them, its stone surface alive with fire. Flames bled into the air, feeding without fuel. Every surge sent tremors through the ground.Raven’s array cr