The freezing wind howled through the narrow stone slits of the bell tower, whistling like a hungry phantom across the wet steps.
Elara did not flinch as the dark blood of Captain Douglas soaked into the heavy wool of her pine-green cloak. She stepped over the fallen commander’s shattered breastplate with steady, unhurried balance, her doe-skin boots finding safe purchase between the crimson pools on the granite. Behind her, Beta Vance kept his short-blade raised, his boiled leather vest creaking against his chest as he motioned for the silver war hound to take the rear flank. His gray eyes tracked the jagged gouges torn into the masonry, his jaw set in cold fury as they climbed higher into the freezing dark.
"His royal wolf has taken full command," Vance whispered, his breath puffing int
