Chapters 14 and 15 were reposted after being revised. Some changes to the exposition took place to make the story work better.

Chapter 16.

I did not lie to Falken.

I just didn’t tell him the whole truth.

It wasn’t meant to hurt anyone. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell him the full story.

So I kept it a secret. A secret about my family. A secret about my sister and I.

Looking back…I have no idea what I was thinking.

I should have just told them all the truth instead of keeping it tucked away…like I did with my half of the pendant.

Fallon Kassius

Excerpt from The Women Who’ve Shaped Our Times.

I’d always believed, or fooled myself into believing, that I could resolve a situation…no matter how dire…by my own means, whether by strength, talent, skill, or mental wits.

I was one of those, or perhaps I should say he was one of those, that believed they could do things best on their own.

Though my limits from back then have since been surpassed, there’s a great deal I cannot accomplish without the help of others.

Going it alone is a fallacy born of misplaced machismo, regardless of gender.

So that day, I – or rather he – made the conscious decision to rely on someone else to save someone precious to him.

Little did I know how costly that decision would be.

Little did I know of anything back then.

But losing her was something I knew I could not accept, and for that reason, I was willing to sell my soul to the devil with angel wings.

Except from A Falken’s Point Of View.

- An autobiography of Falken Galen Claymore.

(Fallon)

It was difficult for me to see.

The agonizing throbbing within my head was clouding my vision making my surroundings appear ghostly and indistinct. My other senses were doing little better. My hearing was filled with the roar of rushing water as though I was standing on the bank of a raging river.

Yet I fought on, because I had no choice but to do so.

If I lost, I would lose the Seal and Andraste, and I had already decided long ago that I would not give either of them away.

Our fight had moved from the valley to the forest.

I was the first to break away from the valley. With a handful of low, fast leaps, I left the valley behind, and jumped into the forest to the north. In my Awareness, I could sense Iris chasing me, jumping like I was rather than flying low over the ground.

With one high leap, Andraste and I had crossed over the treeline, and landed within the thousands year old forest. They were trees that made Jotnar look small, and the Warlords no less so. However, there was sufficient space between the rising tree trunks for Andraste and I to maneuver.

The blue-white rings surrounding Andraste’s feet appeared to make my Warlord lighter, and improved how far it could jump. But I wasn’t able to make the same rings appear around Andraste’s Impulse Wings. Maybe with time and practice I’d be able summon more of Andraste’s power and abilities. However, time was something I didn’t believe I had, not with Iris intent on ripping the Seal out of my body.

The trees complicated my struggle against her, but I could only hope they did the same for her.

I’d noticed something odd about her – something I didn’t expect.

She looked to be in pain.

She was doing her best to hide it, but before my vision grew hazy and grey, I was certain I’d seen her grimace as though in pain.

Was she injured? Was there something wrong with her Seal of Arcala?

Whatever the reason, I felt she wasn’t at her best. After all, she was a Khan, and I was newborn Wilder with only the dream to teach me how to use Andraste. She should have overwhelmed me by now.

She should have defeated me with ease.

Yet here I was, darting, leaping, and dodging her spear between tall trees.

My vision may have clouded over, but my Awareness was like a spider’s web spread for hundreds of feet all around me, and little escaped its presence. While it made up for what I could not perceive through my five senses, it was part of the reason my mind throbbed in agony. The other part of the reason was the fact I was having to concentrate and pour every ounce of my will into the Warlord in order to keep Andraste moving. Even if Iris was suffering from some injury or other, she was still moving faster and better than I. That meant I couldn’t let my concentration slip for a heartbeat.

Darting back, I avoided the stabbing blade of the spear.

In the forest, her spear’s great length worked against it.

Several times I’d sensed it cutting into tree trunks or slicing low hanging branches. When they fell, the branches were knocked aside by Akasha’s barriers that glazed the air. At first they had been invisible, and only visible when they shattered like glass window panes. But as our fight grew harder, and my counterstrikes grew stronger, the barriers protecting her Warlord and mine began glaze the air and come into view. They still shattered when struck, but they were no longer invisible.

I sensed Akasha kicking off as it charged toward me.

I also sensed the placement of the forest trees around me.

I will my Warlord to retreat, and Andraste leapt backwards through a gap in the trees. As it did so, both its swords sliced upwards to deflected the bladed spear tip aiming for my torso. Again, the thin invisible sheath protecting the spear was struck by the cutting field that surrounded my swords. Metal avoided striking metal, but the effect was still the same. The spear was knocked aside, and I was able to avoid being gutted.

Andraste landed lightly on its feet, not doubt helped by the effect of the blue-white rings of light surrounding them.

Again, I held my swords up for defense and offense.

Then Iris did something unexpected – she split the spear into two halves, and her Warlord gripped them like swords.

My goal of making it harder for Iris to use her spear within the confines of the forest had come to an unexpected end.

Past the burning sensation within my body, a result of how hard I was pushing myself and the Seal of Arcala, I felt my stomach sink in despair. At the same time, I couldn’t stop my body from trembling, and it was making Andraste tremble as well. Its swords that I could faintly see ahead of me wavered like leaves in the breeze.

I tried to regain control but I couldn’t.

I didn’t know how to beat her.

Even if she wasn’t at her best, she was still better than I at wielding her Warlord.

How could I expect to win against her?

My trembling worsened, and I had trouble breathing.

I was going to lose to her, and I was going to lose my Seal and my Warlord.

Iris swung her blades. I half saw them, and half sensed them in my Awareness as they cut the air in a rhythmic pattern that caught me by surprise. I didn’t know how to fend against her when she used the two halves of the spear this way.

My attempts to block her were knock aside, so I did the only thing I could.

I retreated, jumping back between the trees, trying to put them between her and I.

Why was it so hard to fight against her?

In the dream—in the dream I was so much better than this, and better than her.

In the dream, I wielded Andraste like a fine weapon.

If only this was the dream and not the waking world.

If only….

The sword-spear in Akasha’s right hand whirled so fast it vanished from my clouded view of the world. But through my Awareness I could sense its movement, and I stabbed toward it with Andraste’s left sword. Barrier met barrier with a flash of light, and the weapons locked for a heartbeat before Iris and I drew them back. She didn’t hesitate, and used her left sword to deliver a slash that would have cut a Jotunn in two. However, my right sword was waiting for her, and again the barriers sheathing our respective weapons collided with a flash of emerald light.

I willed Andraste to fall back and gain some room on Iris.

Floating less than lightly, the Warlord skipped backwards over the uneven ground. Whether by my skill or its own, Andraste avoided tripping on enormous tree roots, and ducked behind a stout tree with the girth of a house.

One of Akasha’s swords swished through the air, scraping Andraste’s glazed shields as it swung by at eye level, and buried itself into the tree’s flank. Preoccupied with staying alive and undefeated, I didn’t have time to cry out in surprise or panic. Akasha pulled the sword free in a heartbeat, while swinging the other blade at me. I parried against it, but it barely deflected and I reflexively threw my body aside while willing Andraste to twist out of the way as more of its barriers shattered. In the process, they further deflected Akasha’s sword.

I continued falling back, using the trees for cover.

The grey in my eyes was gradually growing worse and the sound of rushing wind or water drowned my hearing. The trees looked like dark, towering pillars wrapped in a thick mist. Akasha was a fast moving shadow of limbs and coiling chains weaving between the trees and charging at me every second heartbeat. While my expanded Awareness allowed me to cope with my failing senses, I could do nothing about the torture I was enduring in my mind.

My Awareness wavered as my skull chose the next moment to scream in agony as pain lanced through my mind. For several heartbeats I lost my focus, and in that moment Iris struck.

I failed to block her attack, and Andraste had to weather it with its own shields that glazed the air, and shattered in rapid succession only to reform moments later.

While the Warlord moved to my subconscious, reflex reactions, I grabbed at my head with my own hands.

There was something there…something beyond the pain…something I could feel just out of reach.

As I pressed down upon my skull, I squeezed my eyes shut and concentrated part of my attention inwards, while at the same time I continued to guide Andraste between the trees, weaving a path that edged ever northwards up the sloped base of the mountain that was surrounded by the forest.

Inwardly, I could feel it – sense it – a presence hiding behind a curtain of agony.

Around me, Andraste staggered as Iris pressed her attack. I felt the Warlord stumble and land on the Impulse Wings that fanned out from its lower back. With my focus divided, I couldn’t control it well enough to defend against Akasha.

I needed time to reach out to that presence through the torment inside my mind, and draw back that curtain, even if it meant risking defeat.

Iris didn’t want to kill me. I was certain of that much. However, she wanted to remove the Seal from inside me. If I was too weak to struggle against her, the Seal would offer her little resistance, and it would somehow emerge from my body. Before that could happen, I needed to reach out and pull back on that curtain.

I needed to reveal what lay behind it, because something made me believe my salvation lay there.

With a blow from Akasha that shattered the barriers protecting me while I was merged with Andraste, the Warlord and I staggered backwards and fell against a large tree that groaned under the impact. The barriers reformed quickly, and weathered successive strikes from Akasha’s sword-spears, preventing Iris from landing a blow upon me. But she was wearing me down, and I knew that once I lost consciousness from the strain of wielding Andraste, my Warlord would offer Akasha no resistance. Without me to control it, Andraste would grow lifeless.

I could sense the barriers shatter, and feel my swords knocked aside when they feebly attempted to parry Akasha’s striking weapons.

Yet I was also drawing closer to the curtain separating me from salvation.

I could feel the fingers of my mind reach out across the last bit of distance, and latch onto that curtain.

With one final effort, I pulled it back, and revealed what lay beyond.

I saw the dream with its burning sky and fiery clouds lit from within by crimson lightning.

I saw the tortured, ruined land, where the green of life did not grow.

I saw the armies of the enemy spread like a black shadow over the ragged landscape.

And I saw myself clad in black waiting on the other side of the parted curtain.

My other self smiled cruelly at me. Without warning, she reached out, grabbed me, and pulled me through into the nightmarish realm of the dream where I ruled the battlefield.

#

(Falken)

I could hear the sounds of battle as the guardsmen and I rode through the forest.

The fast gallop across the valley had been arrested as the horses slowed down a little to better pick their footing, and avoid thick roots they could trip over.

With the overhead canopy of branches and leaves obscuring the sky, I could no longer see the flyer. However, we were guided onwards by the odd sounds that emanated from an area of the forest ahead of us, a sound somewhat unlike that of metal on metal. I had heard it before when Fallon and Iris battled out in the valley, but within the confines of the forest, it sounded ever more unnatural. A sharp zing accompanied every pitched metallic crash, sometimes underscored by a soft boom that rolled through the air.

I aimed my steed toward the sounds of battle, while picturing the lay of the land in my mind.

On the western face of the short mountain of Tor Invern, above where the forest encircled its base, stood the remains of Calmonad, the fortress that had served as home to House Clarent during their rule of Caldera before House Claymore came to power five generations ago. It was abandoned now, having fallen from grace and into ruin when the two families came to blows. My father had considered restoring it to its former glory, more so when mother left him with a gaping hole in his heart.

I believe he meant it as an extended peace offering to House Clarent, since his marriage to mother had been arranged to appease generations of animosity between our respective houses. I know that he hoped she would return to his side in some manner.

Sadly for him, he passed away before he could bring his dream to fruition.

Calmonad overlooked the broad waters of Lake Corwin. A substantial amount of the fortress was cut into Tor Invern. It was the predecessor to Calandor, whose grand scale could only be achieved through Archon engineering and technology. But Calmonad was designed by human minds, and constructed by human hands aided by the first machines to be powered by the Ether and the Ether Kinetic talent of men.

I was certain now that the sounds of battle were coming from a direction that would lead to the ruins of the fortress.

I urged my horse to move quicker, then realized I was only urging us both into an accident we could not afford. As much as it pained me, I had to ease back on my steed’s pace through the forest. I briefly wondered if the guardsmen were relieved I’d abandoned my reckless intention to ride through the forest at a breakneck gallop.

Allowing the horse to find its way through the forest, my attention settled on what lay ahead, and I glimpsed large shadows moving between the tall, stout trees.

They were shadows that moved too quickly to be large animals or Jotnar.

They were fleeting glimpses of the Warlords locked in conflict.

I was heartened. If the two remained in combat, then Fallon was still in possession of her Seal, and had yet to relinquish it to Iris. There was the possibility of resolving the situation in her favor. Yet the closer I rode to them, the more I wondered what I could do to achieve the result I wanted for her.

What could a dozen men on horseback do to a Khan and her Warlord?

I would have to appeal to Iris. I would have to convince her that Fallon was not a threat to her, to Caldera, or to its people.

As we rode onwards, the forest thinned out into a woodland, and the gap between trees widened as the ground began to noticeably slope upwards the closer we rode to the mountain. I could see the Warlords moving quickly between the trees, and the southwestern base of Tor Invern rising behind them.

“Your Grace—we’re too close,” one of the guardsmen yelled out.

“I know,” I replied loudly over my shoulder. “Follow me.”

It wasn’t prudent to emerge out of the forest so close to them, so I urged my horse to veer north at a tangent away from Iris and Fallon.

The stallion didn’t need to be told twice.

We rode quickly for the edge of the forest, passing through the treeline and emerging out into daylight. Bringing my steed to a quick halt, I looked up and shortly sighted the flyer, circling high overhead and to the west. However, I no longer needed it to guide us to the Warlords for I could see them now, scarcely a few hundred feet away from us.

They moved about with a speed that would have torn a Jotunn to pieces. Blue-white light haloed their feet and appeared to give wings to their heels, allowing them to glide over the rocky mountainside while their arms blurred as they fought each other with weapons that could cleave cleanly through a fortress wall.

I was surprised to see Andraste’s Impulse Wings glowing with the same blue-white light that haloed its feet, and wondered if Fallon had mastered a little more of her Warlord.

For more than a minute, I watched for an opening where I could approach and gain their attention with the least amount of risk. But it was fruitless, and so I gathered not only my resolve but my courage and chose to ride toward them.

“Stay here,” I ordered my men, then kicked the stallion under me into motion.

I ignored the shouts of ‘Your Grace’ that came from behind me.

The horse wasn’t happy with the idea of being urged closer to the battling Warlords. Even if it didn’t know what they were, it clearly recognized danger when it saw it. Nonetheless, it heeded to my demand and galloped closer until I pulled back on the reins, bringing it to skidding stop a hundred feet shy of the fast moving Warlords.

Inhaling deeply, I shouted with all the air I could muster into my lungs.

“Iris! Stop!”

It was to no avail, and they continued battling away at each other, moving about quickly enough to make it hard to see their faces.

I took another deep breath, and yelled out again. “Iris! Stop! Stop this at once!”

“Get away from here!” she cried out. Her voice boomed through air, amplified by some unknown means.

A heartbeat later, the struggling Warlords reversed their position such that Iris had her back to the mountain. With Andraste’s back turned partway toward me, I couldn’t see Fallon’s face as it was obscured by the Warlord’s Impulse Wings and limbs. But I could see Iris, and I saw her pained face drenched in sweat under the strain of operating her Warlord.

“Get away!” she yelled again.

For several seconds, Iris used her Warlord to keep Fallon and Andraste at bay. Like two swordsmen with weapons locked, the Warlords pushed against each other, and Iris chose that moment to glance at me.

“Run, your Grace—run!”

I realized then that the circumstances had changed, and the tide of battle no longer favored Iris. I didn’t know how it was possible but Iris no longer challenged Fallon. It was Fallon who now challenged the Sharkhan.

But the fear in Iris’s eyes led me to believe there was more to the situation.

Iris’s face twisted in agony as she fought against Fallon.

Andraste was steadily pushing Iris’s Warlord back up the gentle slope of Tor Invern. Neither of them touched the ground, yet the rocks underfoot exploded into a fine powder as though crushed by an enormous weight.

I heard the air thrum loudly and harden. The pressure bore down upon me, and the horse I rode shied back. It struggled for footing as its feet slipped on the rocks. Sensing it was moments from panicking, I pulled back on the reins, urging it to fall back away from the battling Warlords.

There was a loud cry, and a deep boom crashed over the mountainside.

Somehow, Iris had succeeded in breaking free of Andraste, knocking the latter back along the mountainside. Andraste rolled a couple of times along the ground, then came up on its feet. It drifted backwards for a dozen or more meters before coming to a stop.

In the blink of an eye, Iris snapped together the pommels of her swords, forming the long spear I’d seen her use out in the valley. Her attention was on Fallon, but her words were directed at me. “Falken Claymore—get away from here.”

I gathered my voice and yelled back, “You have to stop this at once—!”

“I stop and you die,” she retorted loudly. “Look at her. Look!”

I focused my gaze on Fallon.

She was breathing heavily, drenched in sweat, smiling maliciously though her eyes looked glazed.

Iris yelled again, “She’s lost herself to the darkness in the Seal. She’s caught in the dream—in that waking nightmare.”

My heart clenched as my innards grew cold. I knew what Iris meant. I had read grandfather’s journal and I understood what that meant for a Khan.

Iris spoke the truth. To be caught in the dream was to experience a waking nightmare.

I starting shaking my head in disbelief. “No…no, it can’t be...please, not Fallon….”

I glimpsed Iris’s Warlord twirl the spear as it assumed a fighting stance.

“This is my fault,” she admitted, her voice loud in the air. “I failed to subdue her. I pushed her too hard, and before I could defeat her she reached for the darkness to save her.”

I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Fallon.

The girl’s lips drew back as she laughed. The swords in Andraste’s hands spun rapidly, and the Warlord shifted its stance, readying itself to charge at Iris.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Iris lower her stance and her Warlord responded in kind. “This is my fault. If I don’t stop her, no one else will!”

“This is what you wanted!” I clenched my hands around the reins. “You gave her no choice. You wanted this so you could have a reason to kill her!”

“I don’t want to kill her!” she yelled back at me. “I want to save her even if it means ripping the Seal out of her body—I will not let the darkness take her!”

I pointed at Fallon but shouted my words at Iris. “You pushed her into the darkness, but you came here to steal her Seal!”

“I came to stop a Wilder from destroying your lands.”

Iris’s Warlord crouched and the halos around its feet and wings flared brightly,

A heartbeat later, it launched itself low and fast over the mountainside, crossing the distance to Andraste in the blink of an eye.

A gust of wind roared over me, so strong it almost unsaddled me. The air grew thick and became hard to breathe, and the sudden change in pressure clogged my hearing. I swallowed hard, trying to clear my ears while struggling to control my frightened steed that shifted wildly under me.

The boom that resounded over the mountainside as Iris clashed with Fallon was the last straw for the horse. It bucked and almost threw me. By a miracle I held onto the reins and saddle, but the damage was done. Its hind feet slipped on the rocks, and it stumbled to its knees. Fearing it would roll over, I leapt off its back, and scrambled to get clear. Without me on its back, my stallion was able to recover better from its roll, and regained its feet before I did.

On hands and knees, I looked up and across the mountainside.

The Warlords’ weapons blurred and flashed emerald and emitted a loud zing when they clashed that was unnatural to the ears.

For almost a minute, Iris pressed her attack, driving Andraste down toward the forest treeline, but Fallon laughed maniacally and began backing away, circling northwest along the side of the mountain. Naturally, Iris pursued her, stabbing and slashing at her with the twenty-foot spear in her Warlord’s hands.

I watched them intently. The pace of Fallon’s counterstrikes had improved. She moved better, more fluidly with less wasted motion. As rudimentary as her defense was, the two swords offered her enough protection against Iris’s spear, that the latter was unable to strike at her body or that of Andraste. When Iris did find an opening, the bladed spear would crash against a pane of glazed air, a barrier of some sort, and shatter it. But before Iris could deliver a stabbing thrust, Fallon would retreat again. She would either dart aside, or skip back, her Warlord’s feet floating inches above the ground, haloed in blue-white light.

All the while, they continued to circle around Tor Invern, and ever closer to the ruins of Calmonad.

I quickly looked around me and located my horse. The beast had wandered southward toward the forest treeline. I thought of going after it, then changed my mind, and decided to follow the Warlords on foot. Scrambling to my feet, I began running carefully over the mountainside, keeping my focus on both the ground underfoot, and the battling Warlords a few hundred feet ahead of me.

I glanced over my right shoulder at the sound of horses galloping toward me.

“Your Grace! Please wait.”

I stopped and half turned to look behind me. One of the riders broke off from the group and rode down to collect my stallion. The rest of the men surrounded me, and the man Talus Torin had designated his lieutenant, jumped down from his saddle and approached me with reins in hand.

“Your Grace, are you hurt—?”

“No—no I’m not.” I shook my head quickly, and raised a hand to allay his concern. “But I cannot have you and your men follow me. There’s too much risk.”

“Your Grace, we have orders not to leave alone. We’ll escort you all the way.”

“That’s the problem,” I stated firmly. “You’ll be escorting me into Hell.”

The young man swallowed. “Your Grace, even so, we cannot abandon you.”

I narrowed my eyes, and studied him. Tall, square shouldered, fair-haired, and with grey eyes. He looked familiar, yet I couldn’t place where I’d seen him before. Obviously as a guardsman he and I may have crossed paths within the mountain-citadel, yet I felt I knew him for another reason. “Guardsman, your name.”

He inhaled sharply. “Guard-Knight, Iain Auger.”

I blinked. “Auger? Would your father be Cain Auger?”

He nodded, and looked slightly embarrassed. “He is, your Grace.”

I swallowed and then released a grin. “Your father instructed me in the art of piloting a Jotunn. I do recall he would pick on me more than the other students in his class. I thought he hated me.”

Auger looked worried. “Your Grace, that was most certainly not the case. My father spoke of you often.”

“He did?”

“Of course. He said you were the finest student he ever had. In fact, he was frustrated to tears that for a man of such talent you only attended class because you were forced to do so by the late Archduke.”

I grimaced weakly. “Well that part was true….”

“My father was gutted when you lost in the finals.”

I froze, and forgot to breath. “Ah…well…I tried telling him…I was sorry.”

“Your Grace, I think that angered him more.” He raised a hand forestalling. “However, we should save that for another time.”

I blinked slowly, regarding the young man before me, then cocked my head. “When this is over, come and see me. We should talk.”

Auger looked surprised. “Your—your Grace?”

I jerked a thumb over my shoulder. “However, I presently need to do something about those two.” Turning around to look to the northwest, I planted my hands on my hips. “The problem is…I have absolutely no idea what to do.”

The two combatants were around three hundred feet away when I saw Andraste strike Iris’s Warlord with such force it sent the latter careening across the mountainside.

Fallon laughed in delight, and chased after Iris who had regained her footing, and now floated with sharp movements over the rocks. It was fair to say that both Warlords skated over the rocks like one might skate over a frozen lake. They moved fluidly over the slanted, ragged terrain, battling away with shimmering weapons.

I heard laughter in the air – a maniacal laugh I never thought I’d hear from Fallon – and it squeezed my heart.

I spoke more to myself than anyone else. “I have no idea how to save her….”

A woman’s voice replied, “In that case, why don’t you let me help?”

She sounded quite close. In fact, she sounded like she was above us, which was surprising.

However, I was unprepared for what I saw when I looked up.

A woman with four dove-like wings emerging from her back, floated some thirty to forty feet overhead. I quickly noticed she was a brunette beauty, with long hair, womanly curves, and wearing a short dress that left little the imagination. She carried an odd twin-bladed spear that looked more like two broadswords joined at their pommels. Noting that her legs were sheathed in a strange, dark golden armor that ended in tapered feet, my gaze was drawn by primitive instinct to her underwear, clearly visible under the skirt of her gently fluttering dress as she floated above us.

“Ah, they’re white,” I muttered.

Auger nodded. “Aye, your Grace. White indeed.”

The woman squeaked and pressed her legs together. Then she smiled furiously and wagged a finger at us. “Naughty, naughty. I guess I’ll have to punish you all for peeking.”

I didn’t have time to mutter more than a surprised, “Huh?”

The next heartbeat, candlepin sized needles of light rained down from her wings, and struck the guardsmen and their horses. The men fell quickly, collapsing over their saddles before falling to the ground. As the horses panicked and fled, the needles of light chased them, and soon they too lay unconscious on the mountainside.

Yet I stood unharmed while chaos reigned around me.

It was clear she had other intentions for me.

I took a step back when she landed in front of me. Her tapered feet narrowly avoided stepping on an unconscious Auger. I noticed her leg and feet armor resembled thick, wedge-shaped swords, and she stood three feet taller than I. Her arms were clad in a thick white armor, and the sword-spear in her right hand looked heavy enough to tax two men of able height and strength. If she was carrying it one-handed, I had to assume she was significantly stronger than any man I knew of, and certainly far stronger than I was.

Having left my sword back in my quarters, I was thus unarmed before her. Yet even with a weapon in hand, I doubted there was anything I could do to defend myself against her.

As she looked down at me, the wings extending from the dove’s tail attached to her back quickly folded down.

Her smile was pleasant on the outside, but I saw the promise of pain if I wasn’t careful. She certainly appeared annoyed at my having peeked at her underwear.

In that event, she shouldn’t float around in a short skirt.

I cleared my throat quickly, but she spoke before I did.

“Falken Galen Claymore, I presume.”

I stared at her for a moment, then made it a point to look at my fallen men and their horses. “If you didn’t know who I was would I still be standing?”

“Of course not.”

After again looking at my men and their horses, I turned my attention to the young woman. “I assume they’re not harmed.”

“They will wake in an hour or so. The horses too.”

I took a deep breath. “Well, now that it’s just the two of us, what do you want?” I pointed over my left shoulder. “Please keep it short. I have matters to attend to.”

Her gaze grew distant as she looked behind me. When she focused on me, she regarded me with pity. “You have no grasp on the situation, do you?”

“I’m fully aware that there’s little I can do. Nonetheless, I must try.”

“Then you would be wasting your time as there is nothing you can do.”

I took a heavy breath. “You said you could help.”

“I can indeed. However, I wish to understand something. What is your relationship with that girl—the girl that’s fallen into darkness?”

I took a moment before answering. “She’s special to me. She saved my life. I owe her and I wish to protect her.”

She arched an eyebrow. “How surprisingly frank. I can’t sense a lie in your words at all.”

I studied her pretty face for a moment. “Who are you?”

She tilted her head a little. “You may call me Gabrielle.”

“Oh?” This time I eyed her from head to pointed feet. “And what are you?”

She tilted her head a little more, and the wings on her back rose and fell. “Think of me…as a guardian angel.”

I frowned at her. “You’re not an Archon, are you?”

“The gods forbid, of course not.” She looked fleetingly curious. “Why would you ask that?”

“Because I can’t feel the Ether anymore.” I dipped my head suspiciously at her. “And the Archons don’t like the Ether.”

She smiled mysteriously. “Neither do the Khans and their Warlords.”

“That is true. However, I’ve never seen a Warlord like yours before.”

“That is because I am not a Khan, and you can refer to my armor as a Celestial.”

I refrained from running my gaze over her again. Instead, I frowned at her and guardedly asked, “Why are you offering to help me?”

“Help you?” She sounded confused. “I’m not offering to help you. I am offering to help her. She is the one in danger, not you. Although, in her current state, she may end up turning against you and your people, and that would make my goal harder to achieve.”

I pressed my lips tightly together for a moment. “How do you intend to help her?”

Gabrielle raised her left hand quickly. “Before I do that, we need to come to an agreement.”

“Does this having something to do with your goal?”

She nodded. “It does indeed.”

I snorted softly and shook my head to underscore my words. “I don’t understand you. You’re not offering to help me, yet you wish to come to an agreement? You’re making little sense.”

“Do you want me to help her or not?”

“That depends on what you want in return from either her or I.”

Gabrielle lowered her hand. “I wish to help the Khan Wilders. All the Wilders. That is my goal.”

For a long while, all I did was study her in silence as a multitude of thoughts encompassing wild possibilities, guesses, suspicions and conspiracies all ran about madly in my head. With many exhausting themselves, the few thoughts that remained standing came to attention.

I chose the one I believed most pertinent to the situation, and slowly crossed my arms.

“You want a safe haven for the Khan Wilders.”

Gabrielle’s eyes grew immensely large, and she dropped her sword-spear.

Pointing a trembling finger at me, she stuttered.

“You—you—how can you read my mind?”

#

(Alleyne)

On my orders, the remaining guardsmen escorted Ravinia Eldridge and I down the slope to the valley floor.

We travelled on foot, rather than horseback, and once there I asked Guard-Captain Torin to remover her restraints.

This surprised the captain and Eldridge, despite the Quorum secretary being distracted by the pain that flowed into her from Iris Dirac via the bond they shared.

Sounding like he hoped I’d reconsider, Torin asked, “Lady Alleyne, are you certain?”

I nodded without hesitation. “Yes. However, once you do so, I wish for you and your men to retreat to the top of the slope. That should be a sufficiently safe distance.”

His concern was evident. “Safe…distance…?”

I smiled at him, but intentionally made it cold. “Captain, are you hard of hearing?”

He swallowed quickly. “No, my lady.”

Though he made no effort to hide his disagreement, Torin removed the restraints binding Eldridge’s hands. Once he and his men had retreated, I stepped up to Eldridge and entered the void surrounding her that was devoid of the Ether. It reminded me of the times I stood close to Fallon. For an Empath Weaver of my talent, it was like being denied fresh air, and it was caused by the Archon collar worn by Eldridge. Restraining a shiver, I pressed my thumb on the diamond buckle at the front of the collar. It emitted a soft chirping sound, but did not open.

However, I felt the Ether rush into the void.

In essence, I had turned the Archon device ‘off’.

The pain flowing into Eldridge through the bond she shared with Iris Dirac, instantly radiated out into the Ether. Hastily, I reached out to the Ether and used my talent and skill to cleanse the flowing Ether, removing the agony etched into the flows so that it would not affect me.

The woman hardly noticed my efforts. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she concentrated on her breathing that was growing fast and shallow.

I swallowed, and despite her anguish that I felt on the Ether, I spoke as icily as I could. “Now then, Madam Secretary, let us begin.”

The woman weakly opened her eyes. “Begin what…?”

“My brother has his odd way of negotiating. I have mine.”

Eldridge’s face tightened in concentration. “I’m listening….”

“You are feeling Iris Dirac’s pain through the bond established by the Seal of Arcala. I sensed you were using your talent as an Empath Weaver to cleanse the flows, and thus alleviate your pain and hers. Am I right, Madam Secretary?”

After a few breaths, Eldridge nodded.

I nodded too. “Unfortunately, my brother placed the Archon collar around your neck, and robbed you of the Ether. You were forced to endure Iris’s agony on your own, without the Ether to help you.”

Eldridge gave me another nod.

I sighed. “I’ve given you the Ether, but I can see that you’re too weak to use it effectively.”

The woman gave me an anguished smile. “…you are…quite correct….”

Rather quickly she settled to the ground on her knees.

I sensed her attempts to cleanse the flows from within her body but the agony flowing into her through the bond with Iris was distracting her efforts.

I sighed again, and reached out to the Ether with my Weaver ability. I blew it through her body like a great wind and it carried away her anguish. Then I concentrated on cleansing the flows within her body, writing new textures into the Ether that would oppose and nullify the pain Eldridge was exposed to. In effect, I was killing her pain almost as quickly as it was flowing into her through the bond.

Eldridge sucked in lungfuls of air, and straightened where she knelt. With her pain lessened, her expression grew calm and eyes gained clarity. She looked up at me and asked, “Why?”

“Because I want your help, Madam Secretary. I want you to call off Iris Dirac.”

The woman swallowed and took a number of deep breaths. “Iris won’t stop until she has Fallon Kassius’s Seal.”

I folded my arms, while continuing to cleanse and rewrite the emotions on the Ether within Eldridge’s body. If I stopped doing so, she would again suffer the debilitating pain, making it harder for me to negotiate with her. So for the moment, I kept the pain in check at a level that wouldn’t overtly trouble her.

“Why won’t she stop?”

Eldridge clamped her jaw for a long while. “Because...because she believes Kassius has succumbed to the darkness in the Seal.” She gave me a strained smile. “Something you denied existed.”

I nodded. “The Khan that served Caldera never experienced the darkness, nor did she experience the dream. Maybe she was one of the few Wilders to be gifted with a pure Seal. Either way, I said that more for my brother’s benefit than mine.”

“You don’t believe it’s real.”

“It doesn’t matter whether I do or don’t. What matters is that your Khan believes it and has chosen to defeat Fallon in order to obtain her Seal.” I shook my head. “That is something I cannot allow.”

Eldridge sucked in air before replying, “Fallon Kassius has already fallen into darkness.”

I exhaled loudly, wondering what she was playing at. “And how could you possibly know that?”

Against her chest, Eldridge’s hands clenched into fists. “Because Iris believes that. Through my bond with her, I can feel her emotions as I would through the Ether. I’ve known Iris long enough to understand her thoughts through her feelings.” With some effort, Eldridge rose to her feet. “She believes that Fallon has given into the Seal’s darkness, and I have no reason to doubt Iris.”

I frowned just a little. “I have no reason to believe her.”

Eldridge looked to gather her strength before responding. “When a Khan succumbs to the darkness in the Seal, they fall into the waking dream and gain great strength from it. They are able to wield their Warlord with greater skill and can draw more power out of it. In a way, it is very much a berserker state except they are not blinded by rage. They feel a strong battle lust, and a desire to kill their opponents, but there is little to no rage behind it. That is what makes them so dangerous.”

My frown deepened. “And why does Iris believe Fallon has given into this darkness?”

“Because Iris is fighting for her life now. Before she was fighting to subdue Fallon Kassius, but that’s changed. It changed while we were walking down to the valley. Iris is now in a life or death struggle, and that would only happen if Kassius was able to increase her control over Andraste.” Eldridge shook her head slowly, then added, “Iris…she can’t keep fighting like this. Her wound prevents her from summoning Akasha’s true power. Eventually, Fallon Kassius will overwhelm her, and she will kill Iris.”

I stared at her with distrust. “Are you saying Fallon will defeat Iris—a Sharkhan trained by the Khan Orden.”

“Khan Wilders, or dark Wilders as we call them, are able to draw upon a Warlord’s unrestricted potential. But it places a huge toll on their bodies and they collapse into a deep sleep if they don’t escape from the dream in time. Kassius wields a Seerkhan, a Warlord noticeably stronger than Akasha.” She pressed down upon her chest with both hands. “I can feel Iris’s struggle. I can feel her fighting against the pain.”

Closing her eyes, Eldridge shook her head.

“Iris will lose, and Kassius will kill her.”

“You cannot know that for certain.”

The woman opened her eyes and stared at me with all the strength she had to spare. “Yes, I do. For if family can turn upon family, brother turn upon sister, then so to can a Wilder like Kassius turn upon Iris.” The woman took a quick breath. “Fallon Kassius has no reason to stop. No familial bonds with Iris that would cause her to hesitate or reconsider or even to try fighting against the Seal’s power in order to save Iris’s life. For Iris, this is even worse than Kapernia.”

“What do mean?”

Eldridge laughed bitterly. “Kapernia…went all wrong for us.”

This was what Falken wanted to know. What had transpired at Kapernia between the Khan Orden and the Wilders? What made it a dramatic event?

I stepped closer to the young woman. “Tell me what happened at Kapernia?”

Again, Eldridge laughed, but it contained no humor. “Iris…killed her brother.”

I swallowed in surprise, and almost lost my grip on the Ether flowing through Eldridge’s body.

I swallowed again and found my voice. “…why…?”

Eldridge looked up at the sky, and I could feel her Empath Weaver talent beginning to add to my own as she copied my method for cleansing the pain flowing in a constant stream into her body.

She took a couple of breaths, before replying.

“Her brother was a Khan…a Seerkhan…and a Wilder.”

Eldridge shook her head slowly.

“He was talented and strong. One of the Orden’s best.”

I frowned inwardly, and cleansed my disquiet from the Ether at the same time. “He was a Khan of the Orden?”

Eldridge nodded faintly. “He was entrusted with quelling many a problem across the lands. But more importantly, he was entrusted with the duty of initiating contact with newly fledged Wilders, and presenting them to the Quorum of Khans. He was also responsible for dealing with Wilders that refused the Orden’s offer.”

My inward frown grew. Refused the Orden’s offer?

The Quorum Secretary continued. “But he betrayed the Orden, and the Quorum ordered his Seal be removed.”

This time I showed her my frown. “Why did he betray the Khans?”

“Because he allowed two Khan Wilders to escape, a brother and sister.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Why did he do that?”

“Because the Quorum deemed the siblings unsuitable for entry into the Orden. Iris’s brother, Iven, disagreed and argued against the Quorum. He offered to take them under his wing, and to teach and train them. He argued the siblings be given the opportunity the Quorum had afforded Iris and himself when they too were brought to the Khan Orden’s estate. However, the Quorum rejected his offer, and ordered the siblings be stripped of their Seals. Iven feared the brother and sister would not be able to adjust to life without the Seal. They would be feared in the towns and villages. Their only choice would be to live at the estate and work for the Khan Orden, as many Wilders do.”

I felt a twinge of disdain for the woman and the organization she represented. “I’m sure the former Wilders enjoy being constantly reminded of what they’ve lost—of what the Khan Orden took from them.”

“And what else are we to do?” Eldridge snapped at me. “They are too dangerous to leave as Khans, so their Seals must be removed. At the least we offer them food and shelter in exchange for working at the Orden’s estate. Now with a second estate, we can help even more of them.”

A life of servitude under the Orden, because they could never return to life outside the estates, forever branded by the Seal, for even after it was removed from their bodies the tattoo remained. And even without the tattoo, people that were weak with the Ether were treated poorly, often lynched and exiled to the wilderness, banished from towns, villages, and cities despite the efforts of the authorities.

All because they were most likely to be gifted with a Seal and Warlord.

Taking a deep breath, I chose to direct the conversation back onto the original path. “Did you agree with the Quorum’s decision regarding the siblings?”

“I wasn’t involved in their evaluation. But later I discovered the Quorum’s decision had been influenced by the testimony of a Khan. Iven discovered this as well, and confronted the Khan, which led to an argument, an illegal duel, and her being seriously injured. He then fled the Orden’s estate in Anderas, along with the brother and sister. He did this before their Seals could be removed. The Quorum issued a directive to the Orden that Iven be captured and brought to trial. The Khan Orden dispatched the Six Peers to enact the Quorum’s directive.”

Eldridge shuddered and her shoulders fell noticeably.

“They caught up with Iven and the siblings in Kapernia. And there Iven made his last stand.”

I wet my lips slowly, and continued cleansing the Ether from inside Eldridge’s body. “You were there, weren’t you.”

“I was. I flew with Iris aboard the Rafale, dispatched on the Quorum’s orders. We observed the encounter between Iven and the Six Peers. Iven was able to hold them off, and succeeded in keeping them occupied. He dragged the encounter close to a nearby township, a rather large one, and tried to keep the Peers efforts focused on him. However, it wasn’t to be. As the battle raged, the brother and sister fled and half the Peers went after them.”

Eldridge shuddered and bowed her head, and I felt a deep anguish emanate from her body. It pain that didn’t come from Iris, but from Eldridge’s heart, and as such I chose not to tamper with it.

The woman released a shuddering sigh.

“He tried to protect his sister…and he was cut down for his efforts…because the Quorum had authorized their deaths should they resist.”

I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly constricted by the weight of her words.

Eldridge shook her head slowly, eyes downcast.

“In despair and rage, the girl, Salia, summoned her Warlord. The Peers killed her too, and Iven lost his grip on his feelings. He opened up to the Seal, allowed himself to be swallowed by the darkness of the Dream, and unleashed all the power held by his Rhokhan Warlord, Kartikeya. He overwhelmed the Six Peers, and killed half their number.”

She looked up slowly and met my eyes.

“Iris could hold back no longer, and so she joined the fray. Having fought down the Six Peers, Iven was wounded yet he struggled against Iris. They battled in the township before eventually falling to her spear.”

The emotions Eldridge was radiating, feelings that were her own, dispelled my doubts about her recount. Rather, regardless of whether it was the truth or not, I was convinced she believed what she was telling me, and the event in Kapernia had left her deeply shaken.

If true, then it had left Iris scarred as well.

I did not believe there were many people in this world or others that could commit a killing against blood kin and not be troubled by it afterwards.

With that thought, I had to consider that if Iris could kill her own brother in her duties to the Khan Orden, she would have no qualms about killing, rather than subduing, Fallon.

And yet, I also considered the possibility Iris would falter before delivering the killing blow – a moment of hesitation that may turn the tables on her and grant Fallon victory.

I turned my head, while still administering to the Ether inside Eldridge, and faced the forests surrounding the mountain of Tor Invern.

I knew what lay there, on the western face of the mountain, and overlooking Lake Corwin.

The ruins of Calmonad, the former seat of power of House Clarent.

Like my brothers and I, my blood was half Clarent courtesy of my mother, so half my ancestry had ties to that place.

I had visited it, and though abandoned by House Clarent, it was not deserted. There were many people living there, tending to themselves after having chosen to live away from the towns and villages that dotted Caldera. Rather than drive them out, our father had allowed them to remain, often assigning guardsmen to watch over the many people that had taken residence there, preventing it from becoming a nest for bandits and smugglers.

Father had desired rebuilding and restoring Calmonad, and giving it to the people. I didn’t know Falken intentions for the place, but I did wish for him to fulfill Father’s dream.

Unfortunately, if Fallon and Iris were to battle there, I was certain people would die.

Somehow, I had to prevent that from happening.

I turned back to Eldridge. “If Iris and Fallon continue their disagreement it will not bode well for Caldera.”

The Quorum Secretary glanced north-west. “On that we are agreed.”

“Help me stop them.”

The woman exhaled loudly and her shoulders fell. “This will end when one of them falls. Most likely it will be Iris.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way.”

Eldridge shook her head, and I sensed her desperation tinge the Ether flowing through her, mixing in with the pain flowing out of the Seal before either she or I could cleanse the flows. “Once a Khan falls into the Dream of Ragnarok, they rarely escape from it.”

“But it can be done.”

The woman clenched her hands in despair and frustration. “It’s rare but yes. However, we would need to reach her. We would need to be in contact with her.”

I was tempted to stop my ministrations on the Ether inside her, but acknowledged that would serve no purpose other than to appease my irritated feelings at her response.

Folding my arms under my breasts, I spoke in a firm tone. “If you wanted to save Fallon—if you truly wished to help her—how would you do so?”

Eldridge grew still and regarded me suspiciously.

At the same time, I could feel her exerting her ability as an Empath Weaver, cleansing the flows within her almost as much as I was. Little by little, she had recovered her strength, concentration, and control over the Ether, so in equal measure I began withdrawing my influence on the Ether inside her body.

She was a quick learner.

She was copying my technique for imprinting the Ether, which was more effective at cancelling out the agony flowing into her through the Seal of Arcala.

I was fairly certain she wasn’t trained by the Aja, at one of their schools for gifted Empath Weavers like me. She was either self-taught, or learned her craft from another Empath Weaver of moderate skill.

Eldridge gradually relaxed, then shook her head slowly. When she spoke, her tone sounded resigned. “To save her, we would need a Khan to establish a link to her Seal, reach into it, and pull her consciousness out of the Dream.”

I shrugged a shoulder. “Then why not have Iris do just that?”

“Because Iris has her hands full staying alive.”

I threw her a pout. “So what you’re telling me is that in order to save Iris and Fallon…we need another Khan.”

Ravinia Eldridge tensed up, then relaxed into a bout of strained laughter.

I watched her with my eyes, and with my Empath talent.

Her hands clenched and unclenched rhythmically. “And where do we get another Khan? Wait—don’t tell me. His Grace has one squirreled away in the depths of the mountain-Citadel. Am I right?”

I threw her another pout. “Now you are just being rude.”

Ravinia tossed her arms into the air, then abruptly sat down cross legged on the valley grass.

She shook her head despondently.

“My Khan is going to die at the hands of a Wilder, and you’re irked at my remarks about your brother.”

I regarded her dejected appearance for a moment. “If your Khan dies, she has no one to blame but herself. She did a stupid thing by underestimating her opponent, and she will rightly suffer for it.”

Eldridge looked at me with a chagrined expression.

I shook my head down at her. “Unfortunately, I fear a great many people will suffer for your Khan’s foolishness.”

Eldridge turned away and her shoulders slumped.

#

(Falken)

“I jest,” Gabrielle said with a laugh. “I know you can’t read minds.”

She extended her open right hand down at the sword-spear that had fallen beside her feet.

I watched the weapon float up into her waiting hand. “Was I wrong?”

Hesitation ran across her face, and then Gabrielle gave me a wistful smile. “It’s a wish of mine. I don’t know if it will ever come to fruition, but I would like to find safe haven for the Khan Wilders.”

So my wild theories weren’t off the mark. “Who are you? Maybe I should ask, what are you?”

“I’m part of the system that works with the Khans.” She waved her sword-spear lazily about. “I’m their support.”

I rolled her reply in my head. “System? What do you mean?”

Gabrielle faintly grimaced. “Khans were not meant to operate alone. The relationship between the Seal of Arcala—the Archetype—and the Khan or host, isn’t a perfect one. There is the occasional disharmony between the two, which affects how a Khan uses their assigned Warlord.”

I took a half step closer to her. “Assigned?”

“Yes. Once a Khan is chosen they are assigned a Warlord, one they may or may not grow into.”

I took another half step toward her. “How is a Khan chosen?”

She shrugged and gave me a sheepish look. “Sorry. I can’t say because I’m not privy to it.”

“But you’re not a Khan?”

She shook her head just once. “No. I’m part of the support system, the Concordia.” She waved a hand over herself. “And as I declared before this is not a Warlord, but a Celestial”

The dove-like wings fluttered behind her.

Gabrielle grinned. ‘See what I mean?”

I shook my head and replied flatly, “Sorry, I don’t.”

The young woman looked momentarily crestfallen, and I felt a twinge of guilt but paid it no mind.

She shrugged her shoulders while shaking her head. “Oh well. Never mind.” She brightened a heartbeat later. “Well, shall we negotiate terms?”

“Say again?”

“I can help that girl, but I want something in return. Specifically, I want something from you.”

I took a deep breath. “Let me hear it.”

“I want safe haven for my charge.”

I frowned. “Your charge?”

She nodded quickly. “I have a Khan Wilder that I’m supporting. A Wilder I have decided to help. However, at present I don’t have the means to, shall we say, provide for her.”

“You want me to shelter a Khan Wilder.”

She leaned forward slightly. “Well, are you not already sheltering one?”

“I’d like to say, one is enough.”

Gabrielle arched a slender eyebrow at me. “That’s not a very fatherly thing to say.”

I shrugged at her. “I wouldn’t know. Though my late father was prone to complain that one son was more than enough. He was relieved when the third child turned out be a girl—though in a matter of years he was terrified of the trouble Alleyne would get him into—wait! Why am I telling you this?”

“I have no idea. However, the condition for my help is that you provide shelter for my Khan and I.”

“Now you’re including yourself in the condition.”

She tapped her chest which I will admit was nicely rounded and bountiful. “With all due respect, your Grace, but I need a place to stay as well. I haven’t had a decent bath in weeks.”

“There are plenty of streams with clean fresh water in Caldera.”

“We ran out of soap a month ago.”

“Then go into town and buy supplies.”

“We ran out of money a month ago.”

I stared at her for a long moment. “Then find a job.”

Her eyes widened. “Do my ears deceive me…?”

I noticed I was rubbing my right temple. “Could we discuss this later?”

She crossed her arms without releasing the sword-spear. “Do we have an agreement or do we not?”

I grimaced inwardly and outwardly, and averted my gaze.

Where in the name of the gods would I hide her and another Khan Wilder?

A loud boom and the sound of falling rocks, most likely an avalanche, reached my ears. I half spun around and looked in the direction of the rock fall.

My chest tightened when my ears caught another sound on the heels of the avalanche.

Gabrielle blurted out, “I hear people. I hear people crying. Is there a village over there?”

The fighting between the two Warlords had reached the people sheltering in Calmonad.

House Clarent may have abandoned Calmonad five generations ago, however it was home to many who had fallen out of favor with their communities or could not gain acceptance within the villages and townships of the land.

Involuntarily my hands clenched as my fears were realized.

I turned back to face Gabrielle who was eyeing the northwest with concern. “Can you stop them?”

She blinked distractedly. “Say again—?”

“Can you pull Fallon out of the state she’s in? Can you pull her out of the darkness?”

“Eh—yes. Yes, I can.”

I swallowed and proverbially stepped past my misgivings. “I will offer you and your Khan shelter, but it will be on my terms.”

“Huh?”

“Take my offer or leave it.”

She looked faintly aghast. “What kind of offer is that?”

“Try your luck elsewhere, or the two of you can get a job in town.”

She huffed. “How can you even suggest that knowing how people behave toward those that cannot use the Ether. In our case it’s even worse since our bodies ward away the Ether.”

I sucked in air through clenched teeth. “You want shelter. You shall have it. However, it will be on my terms.”

Gabrielle appeared ready to retort when another boom resounded in the distance. She glanced away from me, looking in the direction of Calmonad, which lay around the side of the mountain.

However, I kept my gaze firmly and squarely upon her, resisting the urge to rush over to the western face of Tor Invern where the abandoned fortress overlooked the lake.

Even if I did so, what could I hope to achieve?

My sudden hopes for a resolution rested with the young woman in the revealing armor standing a few meters before me.

Gabrielle inhaled deeply, yet released the air quietly. “I accept. Shelter in exchange for saving that girl from the Seal’s Overdrive.”

My firm expression faltered and broke into a faint frown. “Overdrive?”

“I will explain at a more opportune time.” Gabrielle glanced up the side of the mountain to her right. “You heard him. You need a bath as much as I do, and I’m tired of eating nothing but wild fruits.”

I looked up where Gabrielle’s gaze was directed.

Some distance up the side of the mountain, a young girl in ill-fitting clothes revealed herself from behind a collection of large boulders that made her appear diminutive.

As she came into the light, I wondered how she’d succeeded in climbing up the mountain unobserved. I also wondered how she was able to hear Gabrielle despite hiding a good forty to fifty feet up the side of the mountain. However, those thoughts dispelled in a heartbeat when I saw the girl’s face in the morning light emanating from an overcast sky.

Gabrielle’s voice stepped into the void left behind by my departed thoughts.

“Your Grace, Falken Galen Claymore, I present to you my charge, the Seerkhan, Fatina Kassius.”

My composure sorely rattled, I stared up at the girl standing on the mountainside.

I could have sworn it was Fallon looking down at me.