“Bradan.”
There was no sign of Bradan. No head above the turbulent waves, not even his body floating on the tide. He was gone.
When she regained her strength, Melcorka began the laborious climb back up to the top of the ladder. Pulling herself on to the cliff, she stood there, with the death of Bradan a sickening pain in her heart.
“I will avenge you, Bradan,” she said through tears she thought she had forgotten how to shed. “I will destroy that castle and all inside it, whatever it takes.” Yet even as she spoke, Melcorka knew that the power within Defender would refuse to help in a simple case of revenge.
Melcorka recalled her mother telling her about Defender's powers and limitations when she was an immature young woman.
Melcorka touched the hilt of her sword. “I chose the sword,” s
