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She fell silent

Muttered voices from the crowd This was a cold invitation into the Holds

Errant guard us, we are in trouble Dread trouble

Hulad plucked at his arestured to the far here shadows lay thick as ure stood there, back to the dirt-spattered plaster wall The Acquitor Seren Pedac

Feather Witch rerew

Udinaas clinoring the glares froed past He reached the back wall andit until he reached the Acquitor’s side

‘What has gone wrong?’ she asked

‘I don’t know-’

Feather Witch began speaking once more ‘ Bone Perch now stands as a throne that none shall occupy, for its shape has beco The throne’s back is now hunched, the ribs draard, the shoulder blades steep and narrow The arms, upon which a ruler’s are of a wolf, and in their eyes burns savage life ’ She paused, then intoned, ‘ The Hold of the Beast has found Twin Rulers’

‘That is impossible,’ Seren Pedac murmured

‘And before us now… the Hold of the Azath Its stones bleed The earth heaves and stea scream shakes the branches of the ancient trees The Azath stands besieged’

Voices rose in denial, the slaves shifting about

‘ Ice Hold !’ Feather Witch shouted, head tilted back, teeth bared

Silence onceon her