Ana pushed herself away. She sat down next to him as he rolled into a sitting position. They looked down at the valley below, one small corner of the monastery visible from where they sat.
“What’s bothering you?” Ana asked.
“Maybe I just wanted to spend some time alone with you.” Brandt tried to keep the concern out of his voice, but failed.
Ana waited for him to answer her question honestly.
He hadn’t lied, exactly. He did want to spend time with her. Training filled most of his days, and what little time remained was dedicated to studying recent events within the empire. Being out here with Ana grounded his thoughts.
“It’s nothing new,” he said. “But the news keeps getting worse. I don’t think we have much time left.”
Just that morning, a new report had crossed his desk. It had been from Tonno. A farmer outside of town, who lived near the border of Etar, had shot down a predatory bird. Unsure of the species, he had sent for an artist, who made several sketches of the bird and showed them around Tonno. Eventually the governor there had sent the news deeper into the empire, where it reached Brandt. The wolfblade wasn’t even sure how old the information was. At least months had passed since the sighting. The bird could have even crossed the ocean last year.
No one in the empire knew the species of bird. At least, none of the naturalists had identified it yet. The farmer reported that the bird was willing to attack much larger creatures — behavior unusual for any known predatory bird.
By itself, the case was nothing but a curiosity. But such news seemed more common than ever. Hardly a week passed where Brandt didn’t discover some new piece of information that didn’t fit with the world they understood.
“Something is happening.” Brandt searched for more specific words but failed. He didn’t know enough to say more. “It feels like a storm is building off in the distance and I have no way to take shelter.”
“Then don’t. There was a time when you welcomed any storm that came. You even sought them out, as I recall.”
“I was younger, and foolish.”
“In some ways. But youth possesses a wisdom the elders don’t always appreciate.”
He supposed Ana spoke true. In the years he and Ana had spent in the monastery, he’d become comfortable. Once, he’d sought out conflict as a way to grow stronger. His desire to improve still motivated him, but what he wanted now was to live out his days in peace. He had grown to enjoy life within the confines of the monastery.
Being married to Ana helped.
He still couldn’t believe his good fortune. Some called their union inevitable, but he refused to take their relationship for granted. They had been close friends, but their relationship grew unfettered within the monastery. Living with her no doubt fed his lack of desire to fight.
Their studies over the past six years had made them stronger. The martial skills of every monk in Highkeep were stronger than they had ever been. Brandt, along with the others, had developed fighting styles uniquely suited to their abilities, pushing the limits of their affinities and martial skills.
The knowledge was spreading, too. News that people could possess more than one affinity had entered the military, and there were already reports of soldiers with multiple affinities. Every day was a step in the right direction.
But those reports made him wonder if they had developed fast enough. No doubt, their enemy had also been preparing, and given how much of a head start they possessed, Brandt wasn’t sure the empire could catch up.
The creatures, and the dangers they represented, threatened to put an end to Brandt’s relatively peaceful life. The problem extended beyond the creatures, too. Though he never received a direct report, Brandt found the pattern whenever he looked. Buildings collapsed, fires spread, and storms struck, all in places the emperor just happened to be visiting. The incidents occurred far too often to be chance.
Brandt accepted the Emperor’s explanation of Palagia, mostly because he had no other explanation. He wanted to blame the Etari, but the Etari were a simple people. They never had the knowledge or the ability to do something like this.
His world crumbled just as he desired comfort the most.
“Do you feel it, too?”
She nodded again. “It feels like a change is coming. All we can do is be ready for it.”
Brandt wished that she had different advice, but she spoke harsh truths. Maybe they would be prepared when disaster hit.
They sat in silence on top of the cliff for some time, enjoying the quiet peace of the secluded mountains. But all pleasant breaks had to come to an end. They took a trail from the grove of trees that led down to the monastery.
The monastery was the longest Brandt had stayed in one place since he was a child. Since joining the military, he’d never had a place he called home. He still wasn’t sure if that was a title he wished to grant to the monastery, but he felt at ease here. This was as close to home as he’d ever gotten since leaving his family.
From the moment they stepped through the gates, Brandt knew something was amiss. The summons waiting for him at the gate confirmed his suspicion. “The abbot has requested your presence in her chambers,” the guard reported.
There was a nervous energy among the monks, but no one spoke on what had happened.
It didn’t take Brandt and Ana long to find themselves standing in front of the abbot. “What happened?” he asked.
She gestured for them to take a seat. Without a word she handed over a slip of paper. Brandt read it quickly and handed it to Ana. He noted that at one point it had been sealed with the black wax used only by the emperor. “What does he mean when he says that the storm broke?”
“The primary reason Palagia hasn’t attacked us directly is because severe
