Sera’s POVThe alarm bells of Thornwall hadn’t rung in three years.When they rang now, I was already running. I’d been in the war room, staring at a map that kept telling me the same terrible truth; we had food for forty more days, ammunition for twenty, and hope for about three.I’d been trying to find a fourth number that made the first three less fatal when the bells split the morning air like a blade.I grabbed my sword without thinking. My boots hit the stone corridor before the second ring died."What is it?" I shouted at the guard sprinting past me."The east gate, Commander. You need to see it yourself."That was never a good sentence. I took the stairs three at a time, burst through the heavy iron door at the top of the wall and pushed through the cluster of soldiers gathered at the parapet. They parted for me without being asked.I looked down, and saw just one man, one horse, no army, no flag, no weapons. I could see it from up here.But I knew who he was before I saw his
Last Updated : 2026-06-11 Read more