AFTER AVERY HAD LEFT THE CAMP, SHE FLEW OFF TOWARDS THE ALUTIAN CAMP, NOT REALLY PAYING ATTENTION TO WHERE SHE WAS HEADED UNTIL SHE HAD LANDED. Soldiers immediately surrounded her, aiming their spears and crossbows at her. “Who are you?” asked one of the soldiers, who was dressed up in better armor than most of the other men around him. He was their king, Avery realized. “My name is Avery. I want to apologize for what I did to your men.” “What do you mean?” he asked. Avery dropped to one knee and bowed her head. “I mourn with you today on the deaths of many of your men.” The king lifted Avery’s chin to look at her face. Seeing true remorse for her actions, he released her. “It is forgiven. You have no need to mourn, unless you are the one my men called Adrian. Please, stand.” “I am he,” Avery replied, standing. “You are not like what my men said you were like,” the king mused. Avery nodded. “War like this doesn’t happen by chance,” she replied. “Why do you attack Azzen and Coraz?” “They stole what was precious to my people. The God Charm. Without it, our country will become overrun with changed animals and plants.” “What does it look like?” Avery questioned, absentmindedly fingering the charm around her neck. “An aquamarine crystal in the shape of a dragon, like your own…” Avery stared at the gem around her neck. “This?” she questioned, taking off the necklace. She held it out for the Alutian king to take. “Hold it for me. I cannot hold it without its power affecting me. Nobody can, except for one of the crown of the Sky-Walkers’ blood.” The Alutian king pressed Avery’s hand closed around it. “You are unaffected by it. Now, why do you come here at such a time?” “What do you mean?” Avery was a little shocked by his question. “Sky-Walkers despise war and killing others without a just cause. You have War Magic, which you used on my men. Why do you fight?” “I cannot look like a coward among the Land-Walkers I know and must fight alongside,” Avery replied with a scowl. “I’m forced to fight, in a way, and there’s no way to get out of it other than to fake my own death. Even then, I will not do it, because I am not one to hide while people are dying.” “Then where were you when the kingdom fell down around your ears?” someone asked from behind Avery. “You must have been there when it fell.” “I hadn’t even reached my hatch-day when the kingdom fell.” Avery turned to face the source of the voice. She was surprised to see a man who was around Mori or Kusa’s age, barely changed since sixteen. His eyes seemed much older than his young body, which was a common sight among Sky-Walkers. They aged at half of the speed of Land- and Water-Walkers. “Not even my mate was hatched.” “Then you have no idea of what the sorrow feels like. The anniversary of the Fall is so terrible.”
