Chapter 26
Miron
I’d rather have been back on the mountain with my ribs hanging open.
At least there, I knew what to do: move, fight, burn. Here, in the center of the Council chamber, with the sigil field humming under my boots and eight elders staring down at me, there was nothing to hit. Just words.
“Begin at the mountain,” Nyra said. “And do not lie.”
The field under my feet thrummed a little harder. I took a breath that didn’t go as deep as I wanted and fixed my eyes on the empty Shadowflame chair for a second. It helped to have something to look at that wasn’t judging me in real time.
“Three nights ago,” I said, “I was tracking a small Shadowflame cell along the northern ridge of Sage Peak. Emberflame intel indicated they were using the storms to mask movement and testing Counci
