The storm hit without warning three nights later—violent, howling, and unlike any weather the elders had seen in decades. The sky turned pitch black even as the moon hung high, swallowed by roiling clouds that spat lightning and thunder so loud it shook the foundations of the great hall. Rain fell in sheets, cold and stinging, turning solid ground to mud and swelling the streams into raging torrents.
I woke instantly, my senses screaming alarm. The moonstone burned against my chest, pulsing not with power, but with warning. I threw on a cloak and rushed out into the corridor, meeting Kael already fully armed, his face set in grim lines.
“The river has broken its banks,” he said sharply. “The lower farms and the outer villages are flooding fast. The bridges are already washing away.”
Bef
