irae'

l, making every breath feel like shards of glass scraping against my ribs. My wrists burned wher

e wa

stone surrounded me-walls, floor, even the ceiling. The scen

ce

g beneath me. The last thing I remembered was Draevenmoor-flames, screams, t

ne was

ho played by the river. The old woma

ghte

. I was s

attempting to dispel the o

e crept beneath i

they s

that had stopped mid-attack, the way it had sniffed the

made my st

ed me from my spiraling thoug

tronger than anything el

i

village. The one

the heavy cell door groaned open. M

like an approaching storm. Absent was his armor, replaced by a dark tunic that fitted the pronounced contours

were a complex puzzle

ty, striving to maintain

dn't

crossed his face before he crouched before me. I stiffened, pressing my b

s head and asked, "You

sed through m

n exhaled sharply, as though my response had co

o answer felt more dangerou

rolled the name over his tongue like he was testing

d into fists. "Y

something that almost looked like regret

what I

ned to ice.

't blin

p myself, swinging my bound hands toward his face. The chains pulled me back be

sem

me once more. "You have fire,"

what? To entertain yo

th. "If I wanted you dead, I would have let

zi

e I had not thoroughly examined his features, I ret

y lips. "Then

n's smir

" he said. "One th

furrowed.

reached out, his fingers ghosting over my wrist. My skin burned wher

d, jerk

d you do

ened. "That's what I

thorn

ad no

understanding

h easier and far

re my teeth. She shouldn't exist. Her kind had been wiped from this world centuries ago. And yet, s

rk was

I had seen

y bloodline she c

st Lyca

nd by blood and magic, to slaughter every last descendant

ng in front of

h

nd. You've just waged war agai

It didn't matter.

hing ancient, something the Shadowborn

about to le

el, striding towa

d me. "Where are

shoulder, my exp

et an

ho I feared she was, then