Chapter 13 - The Serpent in the Garden
Deep within the subterranean levels of Dartmouth Citadel, far beneath the grand banquet hall where the nobles danced months prior, the ancient drainage tunnels remained cold and forgotten.
Or so the guards believed.
A cloaked figure moved with silent, practiced precision through the shadows, avoiding the patrol routes with terrifying accuracy. Beatrice carried a heavy iron vial filled with a dark, iridescent liquid—the distilled essence of the Blood-Lotus mixed with southern corrosive acid. Her mind was entirely consumed by a singular, obsessive mantra: To burn it all down.
She reached the massive, ancient bedrock pillar that anchored the citadel’s eastern wing—the very foundation stone through which the primordial energy of the Solus bloodline flowed upward into the palace.
"Such a magnificent throne for a wretched little runt," Beatrice sneered softly to herself, uncorking the iron vial.
She poured the corrosive dark liquid directly over the rune-carved stone. The moment the substance made contact with the rock, it began to hiss violently, eating away at the ancient warding spells with a sickening, bubbling green froth. A sharp, piercing pain suddenly shot through the floorboards—and straight into the center of Rowena’s chest miles above.
In her chambers, Rowena gasped, stumbling against her desk as a wave of icy agony ripped through her veins. Her golden eyes flared involuntarily, casting a brilliant flash across the room.
May you like
An intrusion, the ancient voice of Solus rumbled within her mind, filled with cold fury. The foundation is poisoned.
Rowena didn't hesitate. She drew her blade, her aura surging with divine wrath as she bolted toward the private stairwell leading down into the depths of the citadel.
