eil, now clung to the craggy ledges like claws. Lerder's steps were heavy with more than exhaustion. Elara

e facade veined with glowing silver sigils. The Sanctuary of Veyruhn. A place whispered of in

high and her body full

s, or a lover's smile-but with the haunted gr

thing wa

ing. "We're not alone." he turned around

anything?"

r moved faster than she could think, intercepting the blade mid-air wit

om the temple steps. "You're trespas

d a stranger who radiated power like storm clouds about t

coolly. "Our reluctant host. And, a

racked li

Lerder. His expression h

disbelieving. "You should have stayed buri

ushing snow from his cloak. "But here we are

ell me?" Elara wh

r and his brother. "He sided with those who wanted to twist the bon

ragging the prophecy back into the world. Tell me, little

full truth until we arrived. The san

ora murmured. "It's tie

. The sanctuary doors opened with a groan that shook the mountainside. A corridor of pale

the Orac

water darker than the night itself. She did not speak at first, only studie

she finally said. "That makes you

for this," E

acle said. "But still

ormed. Flames licking temple walls. Wolves howling beneath crimson s

crifice," the Oracle said.

Lysander wa

said, breaking the silence.

turned

medallion etched with the same markings that had flashed on th

a fr

der growled, s

"She helped bind the prophecy when it first bled into the world. And s

sudden rush of memory not her own. A woman cloaked in white flames. A wh

d, stumbl

past him, straight into Lysander

said, almost gently. "And I don't

storm waiting to break. Fury a

Elara found herself alone beneath the starlight near the carved

d behind them, emerging from

said. "I wouldn't

ed with his brother's jaw

lled back. "Still

er spat. "If you hurt her

aid, wiping blood from his lip. "Bu

what I take, but I will not hit her,

d assurance Lysander an

wards screaming. Magic shattered across the sto

... Lerder were a

r was

s Lys

carved into the stone, was a si

RA

heart

once a whisper, now rang out like a dea