Her gaze flickered to the distant peaks of the Azure Cloud Sect, then to the brightening eastern sky, where the false light of Selene's reign was beginning to paint the clouds in gentle hues. The offer was terrifying. The 'Han Xiao' before her was a stranger, a force of raw, unnerving power. But the alternative was a life she knew all too well: one of endless suffering, of being broken by others.
Her hand trembled. Her eyes, filled with a desperate, calculating light, slowly, hesitantly, began to rise towards mine. She still had questions, still had fear, but the temptation of power, of a chance to defy the crushing weight of her existence, was a powerful, intoxicating lure.
"Well?" I prompted, a cold patience in my voice. "The choice is yours, child of the Faint Light. Will you cling to
