The cool, damp air of the high-altitude forest clung to the trees like a funeral shroud. Within the shadowed perimeter of the Deeprock Monastery, the silence was broken only by the rhythmic crunch of boots on decaying leaves and the heavy, labored breathing of a young woman.
Lily Ford felt the world swaying around her. She was currently strapped to the back of a man she barely knew, a stranger who had appeared like a phantom in the midst of her nightmare. Her mind was a whirlwind of terror and confusion. Only moments ago, she had been a captive of the most dreaded practitioners of the dark arts—the Hex Acolytes of the Southern Frontier.
"Listen, handsome," Lily whispered, her voice cracking with a mix of exhaustion and genuine fear for the man carrying her. "You need to put me down. Just
