ent disappeared into the shadows of the Blackwood. Isolde Ravenspire stood st

d have ki

d the

ye

g held h

cient. Unsee

curses clawed at the edges of h

up behind her. His face was grim, his silver ar

, his voice carefu

ugh her heart still thunde

was not

e way tha

d, as if expecting him to reappear. But the forest remain

had change

uld fe

ply. "We ride ba

as if searching for something. But when she g

them, its presence heavier than ever. The trees whisp

er soul, some

had always been

nspire

tepped into the gre

old, but from the weig

narled fingers curled around a staff of ancient oak. Her blind eyes were

been w

voice like brittle leaves. "Y

opped in

need to ask

s written in

rgent has crossed our borders, b

d-a knowing,

ands?" she whispered. "No, child. T

r ran down I

ward the moonlit window. "The Blood

e-whispers of a curse older than th

lways dis

the red moon, she cou

olde's wrist. The moment their skin touched, pain fl

lammed int

eld soaked

as dark as night,

lden eyes, re

oken in a d

could neve

k. The pain vanished, but th

e was barely a

en are bound,

shaking her head. "T

ps curved in

ible," she murmured.

od, in the Camp of

ge of his tent, starin

nds tr

oment he had faced Isolde in the forest. A

felt it

ther l

m, his face grim. "You f

his jaw tighteni

ned. "Then the old

d his gaze t

h

mured. "The c

ere was no