The southern border of the Wolf Clan's territory was not a line on a map, but a feeling. The air grew thinner, the ancient pines giving way to jagged, wind-scoured rock spires that clawed at the sky like broken teeth. Here, the beastlines felt different, not the deep, rooted hum of the Wolf Clan's domain, but a sharp, anxious buzz, like a plucked wire about to snap.
Ren, Kael, and Anya stood at the edge of a natural amphitheater of stone. Below, on a wide plateau, the Talon war party waited. There were ten of them, lean and fierce, clad in armor fashioned from the bones and feathers of great raptors. They did not stand like the Wolves, grounded and patient. They perched, balanced on the balls of their feet, their movements sharp and avian. Their leader, a hawk-faced man with a crest of cr
