Chapter Twenty-Six
PromisesAlana wiped the sweat from her brow, panting heavily. She knew this challenge by heart, which was just as well given the price of her training. At first, after the forging of the pact, everything appeared the same. From her first day the phoenix had made his expectations known and never did their routine vary. For three years she would crawl to her resting place at the day's end, her limbs burning and magic expended. Phoenix would embrace her within his healing aura and his children would tell her tales of their plights. In Pigi's realm she had been a child, playing and learning, here the rest came only when her tasks were completed, and even then she recognised the tales and games for what they were, lessons. She learnt their languages with ease and their iden
