Kai stood beneath the overhang of a cracked cliff face, the wind tugging faintly at his cloak. The silence stretched. Kleo leaned against the nearby wall with her arms crossed, and the grizzled man they'd saved.
Too thin to survive out here by himself. Too pale to take in the sun.
The hunter sat on a flat rock, staring at the ground.
Kai ran a hand through his hair and muttered, "I don't get it."
Kleo raised an eyebrow. "Don't get what?"
He looked back over the ravine they had crossed, Hollowcrag's jagged maw now behind them. "I was supposed to come back with something. A trophy. A story. Something to show the League. Instead… I've got a half-dead hunter and no proof of anything."
He felt the soul of the dragon boiling within him and breathed gently, trying to calm the raging storm.
Kleo shrugged, but didn't speak. She understood. Even she had expected some climactic victory, not a quiet end.
Kai turned to the man. "Would you be willing to come with us? To the League?"
