All Chapters of The Scentless Luna: Chapter 41 - Chapter 42

Ashen's POVFailure sat poorly with me, though I'd learned, over three decades of careful, patient work, to let it teach rather than simply wound.The messenger who'd returned from the Northern stronghold knelt now in my private chamber, favoring one arm badly injured in the retreat, the same wound Draven's second had inflicted before the girl's power tore through the clearing and scattered our carefully arranged trap into chaos."Tell me again," I said, keeping my voice level despite the frustration threading beneath it. "Every detail. I want to understand exactly how thoroughly we misjudged this.""The transition came faster than the old accounts predicted," he said, wincing as he shifted his weight. "We expected disorientation, vulnerability, a window of perhaps several minutes before she regained enough awareness to resist. Instead, the power responded almost immediately, violent and uncontrolled, but responsive nonetheless. We lost the element of surprise the moment it surged."I