The Saint of Ruin

The Bound Saint

Before she was bound…

Before she was burned…

She had a name.

Liora.

She had not been born mortal, nor fully divine. She was made in the stillness between two dying gods, shaped from the ash of their final breath. And in that fragile moment, she found Valeria.

Not as queen.

Not as warlord.

As a girl running from fate.

They were never lovers.

They were more than that.

They were mirrors.

And when the gods fell, Valeria crowned herself with vengeance.

Liora did not stop her.

She followed.

Now – The Catacombs

The Saint stood in silence, the molten chains around her humming with divine locks. Her skin burned where her memories touched it—but she smiled.

Because she remembered everything now.

And she knew Selene would come.

Not just to kill the Queen.

But to set her free.

She whispered into the stone, a song in the old tongue.

And miles away, Selene heard it.

Selene

They made camp near the Ebon Rise, a stretch of cursed earth where traitor kings had been hanged upside down and left to rot for centuries. Selene stood alone in the dark, hand hovering over her sword.

"She's calling to me," she whispered.

Kael approached. "The Saint?"

Selene nodded.

"She was never truly my enemy. The Queen broke her."

Kael frowned. "You plan to save her?"

"I plan to unmake the lie she's been forced to live in."

Kael touched her arm. "And if she's too far gone?"

Selene looked at the stars—dimming one by one.

"Then I end her… as a mercy."

The Queen

She watched from her broken mirror.

She heard the Saint's song.

She felt the tide shift.

And for the first time in centuries, the Hollow Queen's hands trembled.

"She remembers too much," the Queen rasped.

A war-priest knelt. "Then let us begin the culling. Burn her court. Shatter her army."

The Queen turned slowly.

"No," she said. "We'll let her come."

She smiled with teeth like nails.

"And we'll give her back what she loves most. Then watch her break."

Final Scene – The Chains Begin to Crack

Deep beneath the Hollow Throne, the Saint opened her palm.

A small flame sparked within it.

Not fire.

Freedom.

The chains moaned.

And one link—

snapped.