Epilogue
Winter, 134 AF
The fire crackled low in the hearth.
Outside, wind howled through the broken towers of the Fold’s outer reach. But inside the stone-walled chamber, it was warm. Quiet. Safe.
Six children sat on worn rugs, their clothes still damp from melted snow. They clutched steaming mugs of cocoa, and one held a blanket like a shield.
They formed a half-circle around the woman with the bright green eyes. When she told stories, the world always stopped to listen.
Tonight was no different.
“Once, on the edge of a broken sea,” Kaela said, “a girl was locked in a cage. The bad men thought no one would come. But the sky was listening. That night, a winged shadow fell from the stars. He had fire in his heart… and steel in his hands.”
A hush fell. One child leaned forward and whispered, “Talon.”
Kaela nodded, smiling. “That’s right. Talon was hurt, really badly. But he came anyway. And when the biggest, meanest man tried to finish him… the girl in the cage believed.”
One girl elbowed the friend beside her. “This is the part about the flower!”
“So you’ve heard this one before,” Kaela said with a laugh. “She believed so hard, a flower from the stars began to glow again. And that’s when Talon rose. He fought the terrible man with the strength of a promise he had made. And he set the girl free.”
Cheers broke out around the fire. But one boy, with an uneven braid and dirt-smudged cheeks, frowned. “How do you know all that?”
Kaela raised her brows. The kids leaned in, breath held.
“Because…”
“You were the girl in the cage!” one of them shouted, too excited to wait.
From the doorway, a quiet chuckle.
The children turned.
A man leaned there, cloaked in shadow and dust. Broad-shouldered beneath a weathered mantle, sword slung across his back. His hair was wild. His amber eyes brighter than the fire.
He spoke low, amused: “He’s just a myth. A tale to scare Dominion men.”
Kaela looked up slowly. Met his eyes. And her lips curled into something between a smile, and a challenge.
“That’s funny,” she said. “He once said the same thing about you.”
A moment passed.
The children held their breath.
And Tavric just smiled.