The Gembound: The Price of Keeping Chapter 25: Chapter 24 — The Gate of Crows, Part I: What Victory Costs

Read chapter 25 of The Gembound: The Price of Keeping by Taliorn on NovelPedia.

Chapter 24 — The Gate of Crows, Part I: What Victory Costs Dawn came cold and gray. The market smelled like smoke and old food and fear. Yara stood at the gate. Eliza beside her, ledger tucked under one arm. The Scion crouched nearby, heat rolling off its scales. The first Horror waited in the shadows. Rosa worked at her pots, trying to act normal. The Guard checked his spear one more time. The Watchman perched on the awning with his spyglass, watching the hill. The Regent's forces came at first light. Fifty soldiers in tight formation. Twenty archers behind them. Three priests. And a battering ram—heavy timber bound with iron, six men pushing it. No banners. No announcements. Just efficient, professional violence. The Gem pulsed in Yara's chest. They come in numbers that will feed you for days. She didn't answer. The archers loosed first. Arrows hissed through the air and struck the barricade with wet thunks. Some punched through. One hit a woman behind Yara—she went down screaming. "Return fire!" the Guard shouted. The Watchman and two others with crossbows shot back. Their bolts looked pathetic against the enemy line. One soldier fell. The rest kept coming. The ram hit the barricade. Wood cracked. The whole structure shuddered. The Scion leapt. It cleared the barricade in one bound and landed in the middle of the enemy formation. Soldiers scattered, screaming. The Scion's claws ripped through armor like cloth. Its jaws clamped on a man's torso and tore him in half. For a moment, the attack faltered. Men fell back, terrified. Then the priests raised their hands. Fire erupted from their palms. Not natural fire—conjured flame, white-hot and focused. It hit the Scion's flank and the creature roared, stumbling back. More soldiers rushed forward with torches. They threw them at the barricade. Pitch-soaked wood caught immediately. Flames climbed the barrier, thick black smoke pouring into the market. "The wall!" someone screamed. "It's burning!" The Builder ran forward. Pressed his stone-gray hands against the burning wood, trying to reshape it, smother the flames. Hass and two other masons helped, throwing water, trying to brace the structure. The Mother herded children away from the gate. Her shawl billowed as she moved, shouting orders. The Guard threw himself at a gap where soldiers were trying to push through. His enhanced strength held them back—barely. The second arrow volley came. More screaming. More people falling. The ram hit again. Harder. The barricade groaned. A support beam cracked. "Get back!" the Builder shouted. "It's coming down—" The beam gave way. It fell like a tree, massive and fast. The Builder saw it coming, tried to move. Too slow. The timber hit him across the chest and shoulders. Drove him down into the cobblestones. The sound was awful—cracking bone, crushing weight. "NO!" Hass screamed. Men rushed to lift it. Tried to lever the beam up. It wouldn't move—too heavy, wedged into the rubble. Blood pooled around the Builder. Dark and spreading fast. Yara pushed through the smoke. Dropped to her knees beside him. His eyes found hers. Still aware. Still trying to help even as he died. "The wall—" He coughed. Blood on his lips. "Hold the—" The words cut off. His chest stopped moving. Hass grabbed the Builder's face, shaking him. "Wake up! Don't—you can't—" But he was gone. The Gem flared hot in Yara's chest. Immediate and hungry. Feed. Now. While they're fresh. Take them all. Yara looked at the Builder's body. At Hass crying over him. At the soldiers still pushing through the burning barricade. Her first Enhanced. Dead. Because she'd asked him to hold the wall. The Gem pulsed again. FEED. Before anyone could process the Builder's death, a pot of burning oil sailed over the inner barrier. The Mother was there. Always watching. Always keeping the children close. She had a small boy on her hip. The oil hit like liquid fire. Her shawl caught immediately—the scales that covered it flared bright. She shoved the boy