Cassian's POV
My hands shook as I broke the seal on the letter.
Blood from my arrow wound dripped onto the paper, mixing with the ink. Around me, Millbrook smoldered. Bodies lay everywhere. Somewhere in the distance, I heard my unit retreating, screaming for survivors.
I should run. I should find help. The arrow in my shoulder was still bleeding. I was going to pass out soon.
But I had to know.
I unfolded the letter.
To Captain Werner,
Proceed with Operation Clearwater as planned. Burn the orc settlement at dawn. Leave no survivors—we need a clean massacre for the propaganda. Kill any humans who resist evacuation. Stage the bodies to suggest orc aggression. Plant evidence of "dark magic" rituals.
The king must believe the orcs struck first. Public outrage is essential for war support.
Burn this letter after reading.
—Commander S. Lightbringer
The paper slipped from my fingers.
No.
No, this couldn't be real. Commander Seraphine was a hero. She fought for humanity. The gods blessed her. She wouldn't—she couldn't—
I thought about her speech yesterday. Her glowing armor. Her beautiful words about protecting the innocent.
All lies?
"SEARCH THE BUILDINGS! FIND THE WOUNDED!"
Soldiers. Coming this way. I shoved the letter inside my shirt and stumbled toward where Eryndra had pointed—the old well.
Every step sent fire through my shoulder. Black spots danced in my vision. I was leaving a blood trail, but I couldn't stop. If they found me, if they knew what I'd seen—
The well was half-collapsed, but I saw it: a gap in the stones, just big enough to squeeze through. A tunnel entrance hidden beneath rubble.
I crawled inside as voices got closer.
The tunnel was pitch black and smelled like death. I felt my way forward, one hand on the wall, trying not to scream from the pain. Water dripped somewhere. Rats scurried past my feet.
After what felt like hours but was probably minutes, the tunnel opened into a cellar. Moonlight filtered through cracks in the ceiling. Old barrels and broken furniture filled the space.
I collapsed against a barrel, gasping. The arrow was still in me. I knew I should pull it out, but I was terrified. What if I bled to death?
What if I was already dying?
"Don't touch the arrow."
I nearly screamed.
Eryndra stood in the tunnel entrance, her massive frame blocking the light. She had her axe, but she wasn't attacking. Just watching me with those strange amber eyes.
"You," I croaked. "You're... here?"
"You think I'd save you just to let you die in a hole?" She moved closer, and I pressed back against the barrel. "Relax, human boy. If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead."
"Why?" The word came out desperate. "Why did you save me? We're enemies!"
"Are we?" She knelt beside me—still huge even crouching. "You read the letter?"
"It's a lie. It has to be—"
"Does it?" Her voice was gentle, which somehow made it worse. "Look at me, Cassian Thornwell. Really look."
I forced myself to meet her eyes. I'd been taught orcs were mindless monsters. Savages who only understood violence.
But Eryndra's eyes were intelligent. Sad. Human, even though she wasn't human at all.
"You know my name," I whispered.
"I know lots of things. I know you're the bastard son of a minor lord. I know your family sent you to die. I know you've been told your whole life that orcs are animals who deserve extermination." She pulled a water skin from her belt and offered it. "Drink. You've lost blood."
I took it with shaking hands. The water was cool and clean. Better than anything at the fort.
"Six months ago," Eryndra said quietly, "soldiers in white armor came to my village. Moonshadow Village. We weren't at war. We had a treaty with your kingdom. We were peaceful."
"What happened?"
"They killed everyone." Her voice cracked. "Said we were harboring dark magic users. Said we were plotting against humanity. All lies. My little brother—his name was Kael—he was eight years old. He liked drawing pictures of birds. He'd never hurt anyone."
Tears ran down her face. An orc. Crying.
"They cut him down in front of me," she whispered. "I watched him die. And when I begged them to stop, to please just stop, you know what they said?"
I couldn't speak.
"They said, 'Orders from the top. No witnesses.'" Eryndra wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Your Commander Seraphine ordered my brother's murder. Then she blamed us for attacking first. Started this whole war on a lie."
"Why?" My voice broke. "Why would she do that?"
"Our lands have Starstone deposits. Massive ones. Magic crystals worth more than gold. Your Holy Order wants them. They couldn't just take them—that would be conquest. So they made it look like we attacked first. Made us into monsters so nobody would question slaughtering us."
I thought about Seraphine's speech. About how she'd said orcs were savages. How everyone cheered.
How I'd cheered.
"I believed her," I said. "I believed everything she said."
"Most people do. That's what makes her dangerous." Eryndra reached toward my shoulder. "I need to remove that arrow. It's going to hurt."
"Wait—"
She yanked it out in one quick motion.
I screamed. Pain exploded through my body. Blood poured from the wound.
"Breathe," Eryndra commanded, pressing cloth against the hole. "In and out. Stay with me."
"You could've warned me," I gasped.
"Would it have helped?" She packed the wound with some kind of paste that stung like fire. "This is orc medicine. It'll stop infection. You'll live."
"Why are you helping me? Your people killed my friends up there. My captain—"
"And your people have been killing mine for months." Her eyes flashed. "But I'm tired of it, Cassian. I'm tired of watching good people die because leaders lie. You seem like a good person. Stupid, but good."
"Thanks?"
She actually smiled. Just a little. "You remind me of my brother. Same naive eyes. Same desperate hope that the world is fair." The smile faded. "He learned different. I hope you're smarter."
Footsteps echoed in the tunnel above. Voices.
"—blood trail leads here!"
"Check the well! Somebody went through!"
Eryndra went absolutely still. "They're searching for you."
"I need to go back. I need to tell them about the letter—"
"They'll kill you." She grabbed my good shoulder. "Those soldiers tampering with bodies? They're cleanup crew. They eliminate witnesses. You saw something you weren't supposed to see. They can't let you report it."
"But I'm a kingdom soldier! They wouldn't—"
"You're a bastard nobody sent on a suicide mission by his own brother. Nobody cares if you disappear." Her voice was harsh but true. "Face it, boy. Your own people want you dead more than mine do."
The truth of it hit me like a fist. Roderic. Lord Aldric. Even the army—I was expendable. A mistake. Nothing.
"What do I do?" I whispered.
Eryndra studied me for a long moment. Then she made a decision I saw cross her face.
"You come with me."
"What?"
"There's a resistance. Humans, orcs, even some elves and dwarves. People who know the truth about this war. People fighting to stop it." She stood, offering her hand. "Come with me. Let me show you what's really happening. Then you can decide for yourself who the monsters are."
"If I go with you, I'm a traitor. They'll hunt me."
"They're already hunting you. At least with us, you'll know why you're dying."
Above us, the voices got closer. I heard swords scraping stone. They were coming.
I looked at Eryndra's hand. Big. Scarred. Belonging to someone I'd been taught to hate and fear.
But she'd saved me. Twice now. And she'd told me truth that made terrible sense.
Seraphine's beautiful face flashed in my mind. Her inspiring words. Her glowing armor.
All of it built on children's graves.
I took Eryndra's hand.
"Lead the way."
She pulled me up. "There's a tunnel that goes for miles. Comes out near the Ironpeak border. Can you walk?"
"I'll manage."
"Good. Because we need to move fast. They're—"
An explosion rocked the cellar.
Stones crashed down. The ceiling cracked open. Sunlight poured in, blinding.
And standing in the opening, backlit like an angel, was Commander Seraphine herself.
Her white armor gleamed. Her sword glowed with holy light. She looked at me—at Eryndra—and smiled sadly.
"Poor Cassian," she said softly. "I gave you a chance to die a hero. But you chose to become a traitor instead."
She raised her glowing sword.
"Now I have to kill you myself."