>>6171998Your heart thunders in your chest and against your armour, plunging you straight into alertness just as the feeling of your restored back had you let out a breath of relief.
“Wi-Salicera?”
No answer.
“Starless Night,” you curse, turning towards the entrance. “Salicera has disappeared downstairs! I’ll come check on her, you two stay by the Asterite!”
“What?” Rubida exclaims, her axe glistening in the little light that still comes from the entrance. “Why are you going alone?”
“Because she needs me!” You shout back, and Rubida has only the time to slap her palm against her face as you scramble for another of the luminiferous rods. You packed up a few from when you left the Holy Land, but you should be more careful not to carelessly run out.
With your sword in your right hand and an ember of Her sun in your left one, you quickly descend downstairs. The stone around you changes, turning from black and smooth and featureless to its old dark grey colour, covered in ancient bas-reliefs and writs. To your left, one depicts a short woman holding a mace — just like in your cameo — as a pair of onyx hands descend upon her shoulders.
Saint Bragia.
At another time, you would stop to marvel at her presence, even just in marble.
“Salicera!” You shout again, reaching the end of the stairs, fanning out into a small square room, still covered with the remnants of ancient wooden planks, now turned to piles of ash. The air smells even more like copper, that specific smell that brings you back to the canisters of fresh grapes, back when you still used to have a family with you. “Salicera! Answer me!”
You close your eyes, letting the Sanction you were blessed with speak for you.
At the edge of your perception there is nothing — just an endless void, with the faint sheen of the gilded sphere which would scream and break if hostiles would rush in.
You grit your teeth.
This is your fault.
[cont.]
