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of blood and refuse. Yet any relief at the fresh
air, at the ended battle, had been short-lived
when she saw the bloody battlements. When
she noted her companions’ pale faces, their
tense words. All of them were gazing between
the mountains and the battlefield.
Something had gone wrong. Something
was wrong.
The battlefield stretched into the distance,
healers darting amongst the felled bodies with
white banners high to indicate their locations.
So many. So many dead and wounded. A sea
of them.
Elide reached Chaol’s side just as Nesryn
Faliq leaped atop her beautiful ruk, launching
into a dive for the army below. No—the other
ruks.
Elide laid a hand on Lord Chaol’s shoulder,
drawing his attention from where he watched
Nesryn fly off. Blood-splattered, but his