Blood of Vaelr

r One:

elin, it felt like being shipped off in a b

t belonged to someone else. She looked like royalty, sure. B

ld glance, a few clipped instructions, and that ever-shar

ss us," her fa

was

fe. Not I'm sorry we nev

ast day in her homeland, she would not spend it begging scrap

ing. A symbol of honor, they said. But everyone knew better. You didn't send

one you could

ened the door.

ic

et sound for some

-

er, less familiar, the trees taller and tangled with mist. She sat straight-

te alone. Slept alone. Spoke only whe

edge of her senses. The wind whispered differently here. The air felt older,

just

horses gr

Of kingdoms carved by magic. Of Ashiran Vaelr-the Beast of the North, some called him.

thers were. Not a shifter. Not quite a mon

made her. A sacrifice? A

oping for more

-

He wore no colors. No crest. Just black furs and a

ha

She watched them avoid

r new world, she wan

irelight dancing across unfamiliar eyes. The Akharin man didn't spe

ed to loo

This was nothing new. At least here

-

om the mist like the jaws of some ancient god. She pulled back the c

ll final

-lined gloves, rested in

fortress ca

to stone, like it had grown from the earth itself. A place built to endure, not impress.

iting at

ran

at. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Hair as black as the sky behind him. He wore no cr

e filled the sp

p, gold, cold like

They simply watched. Unmoved. Measured. As if he'd be

gaze witho

ped off her head, torn from its

dn't c

er di

retch of frozen ground, not yet h

wo str

weap

it