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At Dessine’s orders, the hunters of the Pride drew their blades, glinting with death. In their eyes, Sabit could see each of them close their heart to her, as they closed ranks with each other. Two dozen of the Sisterhood’s finest warriors now stood between Sabit and her quarry—Dessine’s look of proud defiance mocking Sabit … Read more

“I gave you an opportunity to walk unobserved at Meriama’s side for two weeks,” Dessine growled at Sabit. The chief huntress looked up at the spear woman with brows knit in fury. “What a waste you have made of that gift!” Sabit stepped back a moment. “I have come to know Meriama in these last … Read more

Sabit’s shoulder felt stiff and sore the day she returned to the Pride. Her battle wound had healed over, and the care lavished upon it by Meriama had kept infection at bay. But the moon had been reborn twice since she had taken her spear on a hunt. After so long being accepted by the … Read more

For the next few weeks of Sabit’s recovery, she and Meriama were constant companions. The leader of the Sisterhood of the Lioness introduced the spear woman to seemingly everyone the Sisterhood had helped. Throughout the countryside, there was no shortage of farmsteads with well-patched roofs, isolated shepherd’s huts free of bandits, and tiny villagers enjoying … Read more

The streets of the village were empty as Meriama and Sabit entered. Even the tight-bellied dogs and ravenous goats kept themselves outside the stockade, despite half a dozen breaches in its wooden expanse. “See here,” Meriama said, pointing to the wooden lintel above the doorway of an empty village hut. Crudely carved into the wood … Read more

When Sabit was strong enough to leave her healing bed, she sought out Meriama in the outer courtyard of the Sisterhood’s compound. The crack of splitting wood resounded in the air. In a far corner, the leader of the Sisterhood of the Lioness held a heavy axe in her one good hand. With a single … Read more

The next day, Dessine came to visit Sabit. The chief hunter of the Pride showed no scars from her defeat at the hands of the sorcerer. Her easy gait was like an unspoken challenge to Sabit’s own slow recovery. The spear woman had barely risen from her bed since waking. The wound at her shoulder … Read more

Sabit struggled under the weight of slumber, reluctant to awaken. She knew that a dull, throbbing ache awaited her in the waking world—her injured shoulder a nagging reminder of her failure before the sorcerer. Sabit hated failure. There was nothing commendable about hiding from her failures in the deep semi-doze of a healing sleep, but … Read more

For Dessine, trapped in the sorcerer’s spell, his wordless singing stretched to all eternity and beyond. Her life, open to the sorcerer’s unflinching gaze, was like a drop of rain before the endless ocean. She was nothing. He was everything. The song rose in pitch and tempo. The future beckoned. The blood she would spill … Read more

Kneeling alongside the fallen Dessine, the sorcerer shifted the tone and volume of his chant back to its previous soft, low rumble. He leaned over the chief huntress until the ends of his long hair—stringy and purest white—touched her face. The sour stink of his breath mingled with the low vibration of his wordless song … Read more