Cheers rose up again, and she waited patiently for them to die down.

“Was this a coincidence?” she asked, casting that terrifying gaze across the room. “I think not. He returns to this mountain and with a dragon.”

Gasped whispers scattered throughout the room.

“A dragon now belongs once again to tribe Charbonnet, as it always did before. As it always should have!” She hit her fist into the palm of her hand. A fierceness settled over her delicate features. “And as the anniversary of the barrier approaches, everything is changing. You can feel it, can’t you?”

A chorus of responses went up in the crowd.

“I can feel the walls crumbling,” she spoke over them. “I alone can see the cracks forming in the foundation of our prison. And I alone am going to get you out of here. The end is near, Charbonnet.”

A chant went up in the crowd. “Wyn-ter. Wyn-ter. Wyn-ter.”

She stood frozen above them, a statue of innocence and power. She was their guiding light out of this madness. Even if it made no sense. Even if she had no way of actually getting them out of this place. Even if she hadn’t given them proof that she could actually see the wall. Everything was blind faith, which had never sat well with Kerrigan. She wanted to save these people, but it certainly wasn’t Wynter who was going to be able to do it. She was using their fear and desperation to put herself in a place of power.

Finally, she raised her hand once more, and silence descended on the cavern.

“Many of you are wondering how I am going to achieve this. And I have decided to begin today,” Wynter said dramatically.

Kerrigan and Fordham exchanged an uneasy glance. This couldn’t be good. Just days ago, she had been asking Kerrigan to take the wall down. She hounded her all week to try to get her to practice. Luckily, Pres and Arbor kept her busy so that Wynter never had the opportunity again. Was there a possibility that she had figured out how the magic worked?

“You must be wondering why I chose this day for our meeting. When the barrier went up, thirteen powerful magical users worked together under a full moon and sacrificed their lives to put it up around us.” Wynter held her hand up, tilting her chin with a wicked smile. “Tonight is a full moon. And I have brought the sacrifice.”

She stepped backward, and Aisling pushed forward the first sacrificial lamb.

Kerrigan’s stomach roiled as she saw the person thrown at Wynter’s feet. She jerked forward, and Fordham grasped her arm.

“You cannot let her see you,” he warned.

“And I can’t let her do this either.”

His eyes were raw with emotion for the first time. “I’ll do it.”

“She won’t care.”