The halls of House Valciel stretched long and silent. Cold, polished stone.
The faint scent of alchemical reagents clinging to the air, impossible to place—something bitter, something metallic. The kind of smell that stayed in the lungs.
Lindarion walked without hesitation, but his mind was already dissecting every piece of information given.
A former alchemist. An experiment gone wrong. A mind that was no longer human, but not yet lost.
And a problem House Valciel could not solve alone.
Cassian exhaled loudly beside him, rubbing the back of his neck. "So, just to be clear, we're dealing with some kind of half-immortal, half-mad alchemist who's hiding in ancient ruins beneath the city?"
Luneth didn't look at him. "That is what was said."
Cassian let out a small laugh, the kind people made when they realized they were in deeper than they wanted to be. "Right. Good. Just making sure I didn't imagine it."
