THE RADIANT MONARCH

Chapter 11: Into the Keep

The rain had grown merciless, a cold pounding that seeped through their cloaks and made every step a chore. The path through the valley was slick with mud, and Kael could feel his boots sucking into the earth with every stride. The Ironwood Keep loomed closer with each passing minute, its towering stone walls dark and imposing against the stormy sky. It was unlike any fortress Kael had ever seen. The thick ironwood trees surrounding the keep seemed to twist and bend in ways that made it seem as though they were part of the structure itself, their gnarled branches extending over the walls like ancient sentinels.

"There it is," Lysandra said, her voice barely audible over the roar of the storm. "Ironwood Keep. We should find shelter there and regroup."

Kael eyed the fortress warily; everything about it felt wrong-the weighty oppression of the place, the treetops dark around it, the silence heavy in the air though wind and rain howled. It did not look like the sanctuary Lysandra had prom