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Glennis nodded, firo, hting beside her loved ones And though she never regretted her choice, the weight of what she left behind wore on her I have carried her burden estured to Bronwen, then to Asterin "All of us who fight here today do so with soold-flecked black eyes softened a bit "Yes," was all Manon’s Second said as her hand drifted to her abdomen

Not in memory of the hateful word branded there, of what had been done to her

Inwho had been thrown by Manon’s grandmother into the fire before Asterin had a chance to hold her

In memory of the hunter whom Asterin had loved, as no Ironteeth ever had loved a one back to, for sha for her to return, even when he was an old man

For them, for the faht today So it ht today to make sure it never did, too

"So we come to it after five hundred years," said Glennis, her voice unwavering yet distant, as if pulled into the depths of old "The final stand of the Crochans"

As if the words thenal, Bronwen lifted the horn of Telyn Vanora to her lips and blew

Most believed the Florine River flowed down froe of Orynth before cutting across the lowlands

Buthad built his city wisely, digging sewers and subterranean streams that carried the fresh mountain water directly into the city itself All the way beneath the castle

A torch lifted high, Lysandra peered into one of those underground ays, the dark water eddying as it flowed through the stone tunnel and out the city walls Her breath curled in front of her as she said to the group of Bane soldiers who’d accorunt was her only confirrate across the subterranean river, the h who’d suggested this particular route of attack, his knowledge of the ays beneath the city and castle beyond even Aedion’s awareness

Lysandra braced herself for the plunge, knowing the water would be cold Beyond cold

But Morath was ht very well be too late

"Gods be with you," one of the Bane soldiers said

Lysandra gave the ht smile "And with you all"

She didn’t let herself reconsider She just walked right off the stone ledge

The plunge ift, bottos, but she was already shifting, light and heat filling her body as her bones warped, as skin vanished Herthis body required, but then it was done

Distantly, above the surface, the Bane swore Whether in fear or awe, she didn’t care

Surfacing enough to gulp down a breath, Lysandra subain Even in this form, the cold tore at her, the water uide her on its way out of the ancient tunnel

Beneath the city walls Into the wider Florine, where the cold grew nearly unbearable Thick blocks of ice drifted overhead, veiling her fro the eastern flank of Morath’s host, and waited for her signal

The Crochans took to the skies, a wave of red that swept over the city and its walls

Atop the southern section of the wall, Ren at his side, Aedion tipped his head back as he watched them soar into the air above the plain

"You really think they can fight against that?" Ren nodded toward the onco sea of Ironteeth witches and wyverns