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FURY FUELS ME. It races through my veins when my daughter looks up at me with those pale eyes. Eyes that seem to hold a light of their own. She is too innocent for this. Too vulnerable.
I don’t know what the solas, or the valefolk, would do if they knew of the strange phenomenon I witnessed in her only moments ago. If they knew who she is. All I care about is keeping Amyrah safe.
But the horn of Sola Vinari has sounded, and I fear this carefully crafted life is beginning to crumble.
My grip tightens on the wooden shaft of the spear in my hand.
Today, I will make it right.
With the tinkling noise of the stream to my right, I set off in the direction of the horn blast. I take no lantern. Hatred gives me sight, and I could walk this path in my sleep.
In little time, the faint silhouette of the city looms before me. I navigate its web of streets and emerge into the central square where an excited crowd has accumulated underneath the strings of bones hung across the area in swooping arcs. These sola brossa illuminate Utsanek’s heart with a sickly luminescence, substantially brighter than the negligible bolétis my daughter loves to gather. Unlike the mushrooms, the glow of the bones can last decades, although I can see these are coming to the end of their usefulness. They have been here for at least thirteen years.
It is time for the lights to be renewed.
A group of men brandishing weapons splits off from the rabble. They regroup in front of the steps to the ancient shrine, the fanum, where the few devoted valefolk that remain heap their offerings to the kaligorven—the guardians of the darkness.
I am not too late. Hastening to reach them, I keep the tip of my spear high and out of reach of the civilians. Soon, I am within earshot.
“... sighted it northeast of here, about halfway through the forest, near the base of the mountains.”
“And you think we will be able to track it?”
“Yes, if we hurry.”
“We will only take the most capable among us. You, Bruel, Trafton, Akir, and myself.”
I plant myself in their midst and raise a palm into the air. “I am here to volunteer for Sola Vinari.”
The group silences and regards me with skeptical looks. My knuckles gleam white against the spear shaft, and I am breathless.
Wrapped in a heavy bearskin vest, a towering man stands at the head of the company. A pale, curved horn and a double-edged sword are strapped to his side. He carries a longbow and quiver on his back. Black tattoos ring one of his bare arms, signifying the elevated rank of his family. He is Dravek Kovah, the Foremost of the Vale. No one has challenged his position in years—since before the last sola dared to step foot in the valley.
Dravek’s low timbre carries well. “Téron. I thought you might come.” He shakes his head, and his eyes narrow. “But I am not sure we want you to join us.”
Some of the men grunt in agreement, but I am determined. I strike the butt of my spear on the stone-laid square, ensuring every eye is on me.
“I have as much of a right to hunt that thing, and you know it. Or have you forgotten it was a sola that took my wife from me thirteen years ago?”
The Foremost chuckles dryly. “No, Téron. How could we forget? We all paid the price for weeks afterward. The kaligorven unleashed their punishment on all of us for that blunder, if you recall.”
The men’s faces are grim, vengeful. I ignore them.
He continues, “You have always insisted a sola killed her, but I seem to remember your wife did not always approve of the Hunt. You say sola, but I say she made herself a target of the Shrouded.” He uses the common term for kaligorven. His glinting eyes narrow on me as a murmur ripples through the group.
Striding forward a pace, I beat my chest with a fist. “Let me rectify it.”
Whatever reaction Dravek expected, his weather-worn face reveals nothing. He stands with arms folded across his broad chest, staring at me, willing me to back down. But I will not relent. I have been both dreading and hoping for this moment for thirteen years.
“For too long, my daughter and I have been pariahs in the Vale. Ten years ago, when I could no longer bear the reproach, I removed us from your midst and sought to be as little of a burden as possible to this city. I have kept my daughter from the awful truth as much as I could. Why punish her for my crimes? For my wife’s death? Have I not already paid the price?”
My words crack in my throat, and I pause to drag in a steadying breath. When I begin again, I must fight to hold back the emotion.
“You may still think ill of me, but I will not let another second of that girl’s life be spent as if she has committed some crime against the Vale. No young woman should grow up accepting she will always be an outsider in her home. It is time I, and I alone, bear the weight of my wife’s actions. Let me remove our debt to the kaligorven.”
Silence falls, my speech cloying the air like a mist. In the weak light, it is impossible to tell what the men are thinking. One by one, they look to Dravek, awaiting his response.
We hold each other’s stares. He is imposing and fierce; I am broken but unyielding.
