{"Hotter than a house on fire"}
We knelt on the mountain floor, not with fear but with respect.
The golden-furred ones stood silent in the mist, their massive leonine bodies unmoving, eyes like molten brass fixed on us. They weren't breathing, not like we do, but I could feel their judgment settle on my skin like ash. Flora and I bowed low anyway, foreheads to the black stone, our hands splayed wide in the old vow. Not for us. For what we'd protected.
"For your mercy," I murmured, and the wind carried it into the rock." Thank you for your guidance. Behind us, the mountain's passage groaned open one last time.
"I will drag Amos, you take Fennel," Flora said, rising without looking back.
"Fuck Yes." I stood and turned toward the dark.
