“And you are the king of death,” I whisper, staring up into his frozen eyes. Not for the first time, a twinge of fear blooms in me at the power this man holds. Of course, like the completely sane person I am, I decide to turn it into a joke. “Good to know that we were never meant to get along.” A flicker of amusement alights his eyes. It’s the first real emotion I think I’ve seen in him and it brings a smile to my lips. At least until he steps forward; then my expression falls. But Elmir brushes past me to stand before the large stone tablet. A pulse of magic thrums through the air like a winter’s wind as his fingers lightly sweep across the etched words. Liquid silver magic, mixed with the deep blue of twilight, spills across the carvings and pushes back the moss. The air around us grow

