Heartstone - Chapter 30: Chapter 30
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Snow drifted gently as Marah, Avera, Denak, and their riders pressed eastward. With some Maelrin’s warriors now among them, their numbers had grown—a small army of the willing, riding under the mark of the .
By mid-morning, the trees thinned and the road opened to a terraced village built into the cliffs, hanging like nests on the edge of the world. Smoke curled from woodfire chimneys. This was Brenmoor, home of the mountain people known for their fierce independence.
As the group approached, villagers lined the paths with wary eyes and gripped axes. But a horn sounded—and Chief Rava, a towering woman with braided gold hair, stepped forward, arms crossed.
“You ride deep into our lands,” she called down, “but you carry the mark.”
Marah stepped forward. “We bring warning. The machines are coming, and the sky will fall. But with unity, we can stop them.”
Rava narrowed her eyes. “Unity doesn’t come easy to cliffborn. What proof do you carry?”
Avera moved forward, drawing the glove from her hand. The symbol on her hand glowed, pulsing gently with a living light. The wind caught her cloak as she spoke:
“I am the daughter of Mark Breknac. The last of the ancient line. My people were destroyed, my father betrayed. But I carry the fire. And I will not let the fall.”
A silence stretched.
Then Rava descended the stairs slowly. She stood face-to-face with Avera, eyes searching, testing.
“You speak as flame. Not as child.”
Then, without a word, she bent the knee.
The cliffborn warriors behind her followed suit, blades lowered in respect.
Rava stood and turned to the crowd. “Prepare the ropes. Send word to the river clans. Tonight, we pledge to the light.”
Two days later, the growing army marched west to the forest city of Druvenholt, where tree dwellers lit their fires in the highest boughs. There, Elder Thyren, a blind seer, took Avera’s hand and wept.
“I felt the flame return in my dreams,” he said. “We have waited so long.”
They gave their archers, their scouts, and their forest knowledge, the kind even machines couldn’t track.
One by one, the villages of the old alliance awakened.
The spark had caught.
The fire was spreading.
By mid-morning, the trees thinned and the road opened to a terraced village built into the cliffs, hanging like nests on the edge of the world. Smoke curled from woodfire chimneys. This was Brenmoor, home of the mountain people known for their fierce independence.
As the group approached, villagers lined the paths with wary eyes and gripped axes. But a horn sounded—and Chief Rava, a towering woman with braided gold hair, stepped forward, arms crossed.
“You ride deep into our lands,” she called down, “but you carry the mark.”
Marah stepped forward. “We bring warning. The machines are coming, and the sky will fall. But with unity, we can stop them.”
Rava narrowed her eyes. “Unity doesn’t come easy to cliffborn. What proof do you carry?”
Avera moved forward, drawing the glove from her hand. The symbol on her hand glowed, pulsing gently with a living light. The wind caught her cloak as she spoke:
“I am the daughter of Mark Breknac. The last of the ancient line. My people were destroyed, my father betrayed. But I carry the fire. And I will not let the fall.”
A silence stretched.
Then Rava descended the stairs slowly. She stood face-to-face with Avera, eyes searching, testing.
“You speak as flame. Not as child.”
Then, without a word, she bent the knee.
The cliffborn warriors behind her followed suit, blades lowered in respect.
Rava stood and turned to the crowd. “Prepare the ropes. Send word to the river clans. Tonight, we pledge to the light.”
Two days later, the growing army marched west to the forest city of Druvenholt, where tree dwellers lit their fires in the highest boughs. There, Elder Thyren, a blind seer, took Avera’s hand and wept.
“I felt the flame return in my dreams,” he said. “We have waited so long.”
They gave their archers, their scouts, and their forest knowledge, the kind even machines couldn’t track.
One by one, the villages of the old alliance awakened.
The spark had caught.
The fire was spreading.
End of Heartstone Chapter 30. Continue reading Chapter 31 or return to Heartstone book page.