ut being a Warrior, ev

is kept and tended to by their village, and in exchange, their people receive powers that should belong to deities. Hei

trace their lineage. It’s a point of pride for them; their bloodline is a constant in the history of their people. His family are supposed

is cousins, but he never quite got the hang of striking down wooden dummies and wrestling the other children to the dirt, and when the time came to perform the ritual that wo

-lived; maybe it’s a blessing that they hadn’t survived to see his shame), and they spoke in hushed whispers and wondere

ks that he’ll come into it one day, that the Bloodstone made a mistake the first time, and Selmas wants her to be right. So h

n’t feel pain. It’s what allows the Warriors to push their bodies past any human limits, to endure anything that they come across. Unhindered by pain, they can do anything, and that feel

e Battlelust is no longer needed. It’s for the protection of those who are not blessed by the Stone, and for the protection of the Warriors th

mself in the present, to reach out with his mind and acknowledge his place in the world. To feel. It’s h

s as though one of the

it’s even more terrifying when it’s directed at his own people. The others are trying to gather in a loose circle around hi

ggers backward, dropping into the sand in an undignified heap. Another Warrior kicks out the back of Y

a female Warrior, leaving behind bright red lines welling with droplets of blood. Byrin, from out of nowhere and with a lon

swipe Yun’s legs out from underneath him, and pins him into the sand, pressing most of his weight down onto the spea

, her voice strong and comma

having no room for long words or phrases, and in battle, they rarely use words at all. Instead, their weap

Chieftain orders. “Th

g no signs of shrinking, even as he stops thrashing underneath Byrin. Byrin, however, doesn’t notic

elmas says

as his eyes zero in on Selmas, who still has words in his throat. He darts forward, and Selmas knows that he won’t be able to move, won’t be able to get out of the w

sp of three waiting Warriors, who use Yun’s distraction to pin his arms behind them. Another three join them, dragg

ing overly concerned that he’d been tossed like a sack of grain. Gwynfor is still lying on the ground, pinching the bridge o

s. “Five of you stay to watch him until he

to his feet, dragging him away up the beach. Selma

no one should have Battlelust for that

says, her voice stern.

ins, but the Chie

oldly. “You get in the way.” She turns her back on him, directing the next order to

mpathetic sort of face and then takes him by t

s shoulder. The Chieftain

ng in Byrin’s gra

ys, “Maybe that’

that a p

t sit around and think. If you want to b

n pass under it, letting go too quickly and getting hit in t