l's

ient soldiers, mirroring the r

The image was grainy, flickering-but clear enough. A girl. Barefoot. Hair braided i

it m

clenched

uldn'

e war twenty years ago. That's what the Hig

es. The same white glow I remembered from that night-the night the

vision crystal from a Wind spy," he said. "It was sent toward the North, but our hunt

to. I had al

. it haunte

ack down where it belonged. "Send scouts. Quietl

"Alive, Your High

ne was ice. Fire and

ed and

ching smoke coils rise from the volcanic forges b

Shard, she was the

l dangerous. Spirit power didn't ret

nawed at me as I r

fa

ace of a sorcer

agile. Like she had no

e root. I couldn't afford doubt. Not now. Not when

atching her image in the

she might

n, in a place I refu

w tha

om pol

from

where old

a d