Chapter 11 · Rust and Relic - Chapter 11: The Ruins Don't Do Toll Roads

"You planning to stand there all day, or are we moving?" Liv kicked a stone down the slope ahead of us.

I was still catching my breath from the climb. Greta had pointed us east at dawn, said the ruins were half a day's hike if we didn't stop to admire the view. The view right now was cracked stone and dead grass.

"I'm moving," I said. "Just making sure we're not walking into another ambush."

"You mean making sure your little rock doesn't fry us both."

The shard was warm against my ribs. Not burning, not yet, but I could feel it pulsing. The progress bar in my vision said 43%. I didn't know what happened at 100. I didn't want to find out in the middle of nowhere.

"It's not frying anyone," I said.

"Yeah? Tell that to the guy whose face melted off three days ago."

"That was self-defense."

"That was overkill." She stopped walking, turned around. "And you loved it."

I opened my mouth. Closed it. She was right and we both knew it.

"Look," I said, "I didn't ask for this thing. I didn't ask to fall into your Bronze Age nightmare.