Reos Dekal, guard commander, stood in line with the rest as the ceremony progressed. He stood tall. He stood precise. He stood with his eyes dead.

Shardeen shifted chunks of rubble, revealing the remains of the engraved box. The lid remained mostly intact. A crack ran along the center. Reaching hesitantly, she trailed her fingers over the lid, recalling its constant presence on her father’s desk. Every time she’d seen him opened it and retrieve the Talorin Quill within.

Selena wanted to both gasp in dismay and sigh in relief when entering the chamber. Drummond was here. Alive, if not well. He’d been chained to the fire wall for who knew how long. Pressing her palm against her chest, she gave in to neither desire. Instead, she rushed across the chamber.

“My lady,” my steward, Henshaw, asked hesitantly. I gasped, pulled my mind back from the horizon, and turned toward him. He stood in my parlor, one hand tucked behind his back with his brow knit in concern. Oh, the old worrier.

Selene crouched, hugging her knees tightly. No, this couldn’t be real. She couldn’t be here. Only two points kept her from completely collapsing in despair. The first, she’d never given into despair and didn’t see the point in starting now. Second, the rocks were hot enough through her boot’s thick soles. She didn’t want to feel it through cloth.

The Ageless One’s life was ending. Unlike the rest of Eldanith Kingdom, Tristine watched him standing at edge plains, waving his hands as if conducting an orchestra instead of awaiting his doom.

Of all the times Linus could start believing in ghosts, he hadn’t considered during brilliant daylight. Ghosts were of darkness. Of shadows and chancery. They were tricksters and mirrors, not the inhabitants of a sun-swamped canyon in the middle of nowhere. Too bad no one had told the ghost that.

Something was wrong. She felt it the instant she swung open the door to the metaphysics department. The normal crowd bustled about inside the room. Mostly grad students hoping for an early response on their papers. However, they had fallen atypically silent when she entered. Sharon swallowed and strode into the room.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Belinda’s shrill voice cut over Donnan. Clenching his teeth, he bit back his irritation and turned toward the woman. She rushed him, flapping her skirts. “Don’t you know sweet words work better than fierce?” She placed herself between Donnan and his latest charge.