A young scholar arrived at Frostpeak Hold on a spring morning when the snow was melting and new grass was beginning to show.
He was from a distant kingdom, beyond the reach of the alliance. He was maybe twenty-five years old, with the bearing of someone who had studied books more than battles. His name was Coren, and he had traveled for nearly a year to reach the kingdom of Valorath.
"I have come to understand," Coren said when Mira brought him to Kael. "I have read all the documents in the library. I have studied all the accounts. But I do not understand the most important thing. I do not understand how a weak person becomes strong. I do not understand how fear becomes courage. I do not understand the transformation."
Kael studied the young scholar. There was something in his eyes that
