The suspended platform of dark blades touched down upon the frozen scree of the Bleeding Gorge with a muffled scrape of living steel.
Sub-zero mountain gales swirled through the canyon floor, carrying the sharp tang of copper, burned alchemical oil, and dying metal from the subterranean vents.
Sagiri stepped onto the bloodstained shale, his dark cloak torn and stiff with frozen blood, carrying Kiana in his arms before setting her gently onto her boots.
Behind them, Zaira's massive obsidian bulk coiled along the eastern cliff base, her crimson eyes scanning the perimeter as the 10 Sandshades drove the remaining Soulless remnants into the distant rocky ravines.
The Sandshades established an outer perimeter along the canyon ridge, their crescent scimitars humming as they watched the smoking blast gates of the collapsed stronghold.
