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Back The Endless Skies
Chapters (57)
  1. Copyright Notice
  2. Dedication
  3. Map
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  55. Also by Shannon Price
  56. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  57. Newsletter Sign-up

I snap the connection like a taut thread. The bird ruffles its wings, and then it goes.

9

CALLEN

The lack of sleep from the night before gets to me and I doze off. I’m awoken by the sound of fourth bell. With a stretch, I sit up and give my room a once-over.

There’s little else I’ll need for the mission besides my armor. The sentinels will have food and other supplies prepared for us, but I will need a cloak for camouflage as much as warmth. I had to be ready to face the enemy, as well as the elements.

Thumbing through my modest closet, I settle on one lined with thick wool from Vyrinterra. The horselords take extreme care of the other animals there and only sell a limited number of these cloaks per year. My father got it for me as a gift, but there hadn’t been any heart in the gesture. It didn’t matter that he drank most of our family’s money away after having been relieved from his duties as a general following a catastrophic loss against the human soldiers five years ago. What mattered was that I looked like a general’s son, the kind who would prove himself enough to make the city forget about the losses we suffered that day.

For a moment, I contemplate going by the palace to say goodbye to him but quickly decide against it. Since starting my training, I’ve lived in the Warriors’ Hall while he and my mother live in the palace’s lower levels—the last echoes of my father’s former station. My parents haven’t come looking for me after I took the oath last year. They had stayed in the back. At least they came, I tell myself, and not for the first time. They were there.

My parents still hear the palace news. They probably already know where I’m going. If they’d wanted to say goodbye, they would have sought me out by now.

Besides, they’re not who I really want to say goodbye to.

After determindly rustling through a storage trunk, I manage to find a piece of parchment. I start with her name.

If there’s any chance I don’t return, I want there to be a testament to how I feel. Something she can hang on to that isn’t just memories. I scratch out words, cursing under my breath that I didn’t think out what I wanted to say before starting. Halfway through, I remember to try to keep the scrawl that Rowan’s teased me about for years neat and legible.

The light outside starts to turn from yellow to gold as the sun sets, but there are still hours until the eleventh bell.