Dorvin nodded. "You know, I used to sit like this under the stars. Would find a nice boulder or fallen log to sit on, stare up, and drink whatever I could get—ale, wine, cider, anything I could trade salted meat or furs for. And I'd just stare up, watching the stars, trying to imagine what they were. We were wanderers, in my tribe. Called ourselves Stonespear. Old name. We'd travel from the southern sea to the northern hinterlands, from the western mountains to the eastern grasslands, and wherever we'd travel, those stars would be the same. I used to think it so strange! How babes were born, elders died, how the earth changed from rock to grass to water . . . but those stars kept shining, traveling across the sky but always coming back home. I used to think I was so small, so lowly, nothing compared to those lights in the sky, those celestial warriors." He thumped his chest. "But maybe there's a little starlight inside me after all. Inside all Vir Requis." He looked at Jeid, and his voice was hoarse. "Grizzly, how do you feel light and joy when you're in darkness, when there's so much pain and death, when you miss people so much, when you feel so alone?"

Jeid sighed. He slung his arm around the younger man. "You don't. Not always. I don't always feel the light of the sun or stars, the warmth, the beauty of the world. Often all is dark within me. But darkness passes. Loss, grief, fear . . . we cannot always heal these things, but we can find light too. Even in darkness. Even in grief. Even when alone. Hope is like a candle in a dark forest; it doesn't banish all shadows, but it gives you enough light to walk by. And there is always some hope, some light, some joy. You are not alone, Dorvin. No Vir Requis will ever be alone so long as our column stands. And it still stands—out there in our forest."

Dorvin nodded, rubbed his eyes, and rose to his feet. "We will find our column again. We will find our sky." He emptied his bottle. "And we'll find more of this damn magnificent stuff."

Jeid rose to his feet, joints creaking. "Now go guard the entrance. It's your shift."

As the young man walked off, Jeid remained in the dark tunnel, alone.

He'd be a good man for you, Maev, he thought. And maybe I gave him some hope. He throat tightened. But why can't I feel the same hope within me?

Jeid clenched his fists and lowered his head, feeling lost in the shadows.

ISSARI

 
ISSARI

The white dragon flew over the mountain, staring down at the ruin of her people.