Chapter Twenty-EightKelia had let the celebration the night before go on for several hours, earning several sour looks when she'd ordered the last few revelers to retire for the night. Despite the joy of the ceremony and all it represented, there were many things to do the next day, and it wouldn't do for her people to be drowsy and listless should an attack come.
Breathing in the cool air blowing through her bedroom window, she sat up in her bed. The grim reality of her own situation had settled over her mattress of lyrax pelts like a dark cloud as she'd tried in vain to sleep, both terrified of the recurring nightmare of her tribe's obliteration and the realization that she would have to use her Wielding to kill. That, plus the gentle whap-whap of the window shade against the wall made
