The ancient stone circle felt different when I returned to say goodbye.
Kai walked beside me through the pre-dawn darkness, our footsteps crunching on frost that hadn't melted since yesterday's snow. In three hours, we'd be in Viktor Kane's custody. In three hours, everything would change forever.
But first, I needed to understand why the transferred knowledge from Elder Celeste kept whispering things that didn't make sense.
"You sure about this?" Kai asked as we approached the moonstone pillars. "We could be using this time for tactical planning, final preparations—"
"The tactical planning is done. Viktor gets what he wants, we get our people's safety, and I figure out how to destroy him from the inside." I stopped at the circle's edge, noting how the carved symbols seemed to pulse with their own light. "But Kai, there's something else. Something Celeste showed me that I haven't told anyone."
"What kind of something?"
