CHAPTER 9: SENTINELS OF THE DAWN
PART I: THE BREATH OF THE NORTH – ELARA
The drop in temperature is never sudden. It’s a slow betrayal, an insidious infiltration that begins with a breeze slightly too sharp against the nape of your neck and ends with frost crystals welded to your eyelashes. Leaving the Valley of the Sun, I felt the protective warmth of Ra’s lineage wither behind me like a broken promise.
My name is Elara. At two years old, I learned that the world could collapse in a clash of shadows and steel. Today, I am the eyes and ears of the twin princes. And my eyes are currently fixed on the pointed, twitching ears of Solas, my sight hound, trotting at my side. Solas is an imposing animal with a silver-gray coat as tough as wire, capable of outrunning a wolf at full gallop. He s
