The winter was the harshest in living memory.
Hope stood on the balcony of the palace, watching the snow fall over Cinderhall. The city was blanketed in white. The streets were empty. The fires were lit. The people huddled in their homes, praying for the spring.
She should have been at peace. The Dreamer was gone. The Nightmare King was gone. The realm was safe.
But she wasn't.
Something was wrong.
The sword at her hip pulsed with dark light. Unstable. Uncertain. The blade had been alive since the battle with the Nightmare King. Blazing with power. But now it flickered. Unpredictable. Dangerous.
Kaelen appeared beside her. His hand found hers.
"You haven't slept in days."
"I can't. Every time I close my eyes, I see it."
"See what?"
"The darkness. The shadow. The thing that's comi
