dn't stopped

screaming like a chorus of angry ghosts. It made the timbers gr

rapped me in during the bond ritual were long gone, but nothing I wore felt w

glorified prison cell stone floors, no windows, and a thick iron door that didn't budge. A m

only exception had been Commander Thorne, who threw me a scowl deep enough

dn't co

My fate.

after the bond flared. Not warm, not angry even. Just...

was alone, dimmed when others came near. I didn't know what it meant. Every ti

eren't

hing inside m

pers beneath the wind. A hear

my name in langua

I thought I was going mad.

sked aloud, breath

e ans

door crea

a

st, eyes colder than the storm behind him. He steppe

p," he

ory now. Kade said move, I moved. Not because I

" I m

as he replied, "You

tened. "Traini

surv

d by thick stone battlements and the ever-present crackle of flames. Wolves s

en staff at my fe

sita

it up,

my name unless

he staff, h

n he at

up. Not a s

was lunging, and I barely ducked in time

ing," I gasped,

is tra

rying to

t wait for you to be ready. Your enemies won't care if

heavier than I expected. Or maybe I was just

fighter," I

unged

s bl

re

out, and I hit the groun

. You were chosen. The Moon Flame picked

o my side,

my mouth. "You think I asked for a bond

ow loome

ke a girl in a story where ever

t. Not because he was cru

st

the sta

ga

nked.

make me fight, then teach me. Stop trying to

ment. Then for the f

taught me how to brace against wind. Elara showed me how to move

ed me. I was an out

me the

night like a lightning stri

fway across the hall before

e barked when I re

't. I push

ed by the fire. One of th

en claw marks, deep a

sed. "Blo

Something worse. Blood sp

e the body. M

whisper c

om the

m h

co

e's he

back, bre

bbed my arm. "Wh

ng," I

't beli

didn'

p. My hand burned again the

ng was

se...

d had arrived Lira had taken a stronghol

my," Elara said. "Fas

t to follow her," I

me. "Then make

said th

that night, the

, they weren'

ere me

mi

s voice echoed my voice?and someone old

saw her

g beside a pool of water. Whispering,

look

sa

A broken, fu

I'll take it f

with blood

mi

ride in two hours. East ridg

odd

sed, one thou

sn't e

ust be

into a b

ilent. I rode behind Elara, te

ed cliffs and ruins of a fort

alled

as here," he said.

ind h

ridge above, a

i

Crowned in bone

ised a

more

she s

really think I'

g someth

bo

of o

e. Kade dre

d

ped fo

speak, the ground b

tr

he world tilted, and

on

ai

d her. Not one pair. Two. One soft and familiar. T