Elder Thorne woke me before dawn. The sky was still dark, stars fading as morning approached. My body ached from the rogue attack, but he showed no sympathy.
“Training begins now,” he said simply. “Get dressed. Meet me outside in five minutes.”
I stumbled out of bed, pulling on the simple clothes he’d left for me. Maya was still asleep in the next room. Part of me envied her.
Outside, the air was cold enough to make me shiver. Elder Thorne stood in a clearing behind his cottage, waiting. The trees around us were huge and old, their branches blocking out most of the fading starlight.
“First lesson,” he said when I reached him. “Forget everything you think you know about yourself.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You were raised to believe you’re weak. Small. Powerless. Every day of your life,
