Chapter 54. The Enemy Falls

The mountain pass was a mausoleum of lost power. Neriah lay on the stone, freezing, mortal, stripped of the Ashen Flame, saved only by the sheer, desperate force of her own will. The silence was broken by the dry, rattling chuckle of her final enemy.

The Corrupted Soul, a faint, dark shadow anchored to the ancient corruption in the stone, mocked her.

“The great purification failed, little Queen,” the spirit rasped, its voice a hiss of defeated malice. “You are empty. You chose the mundane life over the glorious death. You earned a few decades of weakness. And I, the enemy you chased for two lifetimes, survive.”

Neriah ignored the physical chill and the spiritual taunt. She crawled toward the defeated shell of Kalen, whose eyes were still wide with shock and fear.

“You are still bound to the mountain, Spirit,” Neriah projected, her mind weak but sharp. “You are clinging to a geological wound. You cannot leave without a vessel.”

“And you cannot stop me fr