The Exile
Elira held her magic at the ready—flickering deep red and gold at her fingertips, humming just beneath the skin. She didn't lower her hand, still unsure of who exactly this cloaked stranger was.
"Name yourself," she said, still uneasy.
The figure stepped fully into view. A young man, maybe a year older than her, with sun-worn skin, silver hair and long scar across his jaw, light blue eyes like fractured moonstone—eyes she recognized.
"Elric told me you'd never trust anyone easily," he said quietly. "But I hope you'll at least listen to what I have to say."
Her pulse flared. "…Rian?" Finally she understood why this man seemed so familiar
He nodded.
Rian Halven. Her brother's best friend before the exile. Before the spell gone wrong. Before the elders of Eldhollow had branded him unstable and cast him out of the town's wards.
"You have a lot of nerve showing your face here," she said, voice low. "You almost killed three apprentices, you can't be so careless regarding the safety of those around you"
"And yet," he said, stepping closer, "I'm not the one they've chained, don't you find that odd ? "
She lowered her hand, but only slightly. "What are you doing here?did you have something to do with all this ?"
"No , I followed the storm wolf's trail. I saw what happened. And I saw who was else was watching."
That stopped her.
"There was another witness?"
Rian's mouth twitched, something like pain behind his eyes. "Not a witness. A summoner. Someone who used binding runes to lure the beast. And I think I know who."
Elira stared at him. "Why would anyone frame Elric?what has he ever done to deserve this ? Why go though all this trouble to set him up and not just try to fight him outright " she pondered almost more to herself than Rian.
Rian hesitated, studying Elira's face then pulled something from his satchel—a torn scrap of parchment, ink smeared but legible.
It was a sigil. One Elira had only seen once before, burned into the edge of an old Frostborne war banner, any where you seen that banner you knew the smell of blood and war followed, the Frostborne kingdom was known for getting what it wanted at any cost if necessary even the cost of their own people
Her blood ran cold.
"This isn't about Elric," Rian said. "It's about you."