The wind's faint sound reverberated through the keep's ruined hallways. With the horizon illuminated by the unsettling radiance of far-off fires, Zara stood at the edge of the broken parapet. The quiet was misleading; beneath it throbbed a tumultuous storm that none of them could ignore.
With his boots crunching quietly on the shattered stone, Kael joined her. "The scouts came back," he remarked quietly. "We underestimated the amount of time we have."
"How much time?" Zara enquired, continuing to gaze off into space.
Kael paused. "At most one day before they arrive."
Zara let out a sharp breath and closed her eyes. They had been forced to this bleak stronghold, its defences hardly standing and its walls tumbling down. They were now surrounded by their unrelenting foe, who was getting more powerful with each battle.
"We can't confront them directly," Kael added. "Not in this place."
Zara turned to him and said, "Then we force them to fight on our terms." There was a tremendous determin
