AIKO
I woke with a scream caught in my throat, the echo of death still reverberating through my mind. Light beams, searing brightness, animals and rogues reduced to ash—the images lingered behind my eyelids like ghostly afterimages. Eron's horror, his guilt, his Crown of First Light spinning above his head like a deadly halo.
Not my dream. Not my memory. But I had seen it as clearly as if I'd been standing beside him.
I sat up, my heart hammering painfully against my ribs, and reached for the water goblet on my nightstand. As I extended my arm, a flash of purple caught my eye. I froze, staring in disbelief at the pattern of fine scales that now traced from my wrist halfway to my elbow, iridescent in the dim light of dawn.
"No," I whispered, rubbing frantically at the scales. "No, not n
