C22 The City That Was Never Saved

Ash rained like slow snowfall.

Eli teetered on the crumbling brink of what once had been the divine city of Lirael: the seat of the sky gods, their domed palaces now wrecked bones made of marble and gold. The once-sacred river that circled the city in ribbons of silver now flowed black and choked, sullied by soot and silence. There were no longer any screams to be heard. No cries