Longer pause.
Thump.
Her heart hasn’t given up. Even with her lungs paralyzed and her magic dead and her organs failing systematically, that stubborn muscle keeps contracting. Fighting for time she doesn’t have.
I drop to my knees beside her. My hands shake—exhaustion, blood loss, an emotion I refuse to name.
Time is running out.
And I’m in no condition to save her.
The dragonfire caveis three miles north.
I found it decades ago during a long hunt—a natural cavern above a geothermal vent. Over the years, I’ve filled it with dragonfire until the stone itself retained heat, radiating energy that keeps the space habitable even in the depths of winter.
Monsters avoid it. The concentration of dragon power creates a threshold they hesitate to cross. Not a barrier—I’ve never been able to create true barriers—but a warning strong enough that most creatures seek easier prey.
Three miles.
With her not breathing. With her heart slowing. With my body barely functional.
Move.
I gather her into my arms.
TWENTY-FOUR
KASTER
She weighs almost nothing.
The poison has reduced her already-lean frame to emaciation. I feel her bones through her clothes—ribs protruding, shoulder blades sharp against my forearm. Her body has consumed itself trying to fight an infection it couldn’t beat.
My wounds scream protest. The fractured ribs shift against each other. The wound across my back reopens, blood soaking through what remains of my shirt.
It doesn’t matter.
I start walking.
The canyon isa blur of ice and shadow.
I move through it on instinct, my body finding paths while my mind focuses entirely on the weight in my arms. Every few steps, I press my ear to her ribs. Listen for the heartbeat that’s becoming harder to detect.
Thump.
Still there. Still fighting.
Faster.
I push my damaged body harder. Every healing resource has redirected entirely—every available resource channeled into keeping me functional enough to move. Wounds stay open. Pain becomes background noise. My vision grays at the edges.
Faster.
Snow begins to fall.
Heavy flakes that melt against my heated skin but accumulate on her still form. I pull her tighter against my body, try to share what heat I have left.
She’s so cold.
