C23 The Blooming Ruin

They felt the ground tremble.

At first, Eli thought it was memory—the echo of the war that had shattered Lirael into a hazy past. But then the fire died with an unnatural gust of wind, and there cracked open behind them a stone altar from which black vines came pouring like veins from the earth.

Kael unsheathed his sword.

On instinct, Amon stepped in front of Eli