Chapter 139 - The Valley’s Curse

The valley groaned as though remembering its own death. The sound rolled up from the fractured terraces, deep and resonant, a dirge echoing through the hollowed land. Dust spiraled upward in thin columns, caught in the mountain wind, twisting like smoke over graves. From the fissures in the soil, the constructs advanced, clay and bone creaking with every step, their hollow frames lit by pale, unnatural fire. Each thudding stride shook loose stones from broken walls, sending them clattering down the slope.