Page 126 of What Lies Within Masks & Shadows

No one could be trusted.

So that’s who they were forced to be.

Murderers conducting the evil biddings of the High King.

It had been a long, harrowing day, sitting in a saddle, treading a rocky trail that offered breathtaking views and colors that Alora never knew existed. Most of the world she’d seen was Telldaira, full of crippling stone homes outside of her gated community, small shops, the grungy tavern she worked in. The bustling market where city folk gathered supplies of fresh produce, newly crafted attire, furniture, and jewelry that was far too expensive for most of the common folk.

But this world, this …thiswas extraordinary.

Vast, steep mountain ranges cascaded in colors of rich navy blues, purples that would make a simple lavender bush jealous, and ashen rockscapes that spanned the entire length of the horizon. Many peaks were so high, they disappeared into the clouds completely. Lakes and rivers peacefully rested below with the most unbelievably clear teal water safely harboring marine life and plants easily seen in their depths.

Forests of vibrant colors surrounded the trail, swallowing them with the peaceful songs of winged creatures and lurking beasts. Waterfalls of magnificent power and strength called to them as they passed by. Skies so beautiful it seemed as if they were painted by Maker of the Skies Himself.

But amongst the beauty, an ugliness had formed in a shroud of battle-black armor and scowling faces.

Beside her, Alora side-eyed the grumblings of two males. One in particular had been shouting inside the war tent the day before.

That same glower cursed his face now, making the black horns spiraling from his red hair look ever more so devilish. And it didn’t help that his skin was set in a crimson glow.

Haiden, General of the Bloodbane, murmured something to a male wolf shifter she recognized as one of Garrik’s commanders. Draven, was it?

They must have noticed her evaluation because Haiden stiffened and dismissed the male, who, in turn, gave Alora a wink and a cocky nod, before he strode forward and collected himself by the High Prince’s side.

But Haiden,The Destroyer,as she’d heard him coined, never lifted his blazing sunset eyes from her.

That wasenough.

Alora turned to him fully, embers lighting in her eyes as her threat poisoned the air. “You wield your sword well, Haiden.Perhaps you should refine your tongue as diligently. If you have something to say?—”

“I wish I could return the compliment,” was all he snapped back, stiffening his back and tightening the reins in his hands as if he were the High Prince himself.

Alora scoffed as soldiers around them started turning their heads. The usual low murmur that rolled through the throng of Dragons was forsaken to shift their attention between them.

Haiden continued, “You doom this entire army by your lack of discipline and ignorance of powers you shouldn’t own. Almost getting yourself and others killed. And you have thenerveto believeyou”—a dark laugh—“can advise in the war tent.”

There it was.

She never wanted the attention. Never wanted to sit at the High Prince’s war table or to even be considered in discussions she had no business being in.All she ever wanted was freedom. But now that Haiden had finally dared to speak directly to her, attempting to use his voice as a boot to wrench her further into the ground, she started to feel rather attached to the idea that her voice belonged at the High Prince’s table.

“If I needed a lecture, I would approach the High Prince, not the one who failed him in council.” Her words heated Haiden’s face, so she pressed the dagger disguised as her tongue further. “Are youquestioningyour High Prince?” Alora glanced around at their growing spectators. “Among his soldiers, you deny his leadership? I don’t think he’d take too kindly to beingdoubtedin such a way.”

A noticeable growl later, Haiden’s face brightened to an even lovelier shade of dark crimson. Clearly, ‘Thedestroyer’ was only skilled with weapons and not at keeping his wits when insulted.

“That’s what I thought,” Alora sneered, pride budding as she raised her head and leaned back in her saddle.

The others around them murmured in shocked whispers.

Haiden kicked his horse, and the poor thing startled, disturbing loose stones and dusting the dirt as he drove forward. His tight expression formed an embarrassing amount of rage on his lips as he knocked his horse into Storm and spoke so only she could hear. “The only reason you’re still alive is because our High Prince humiliated himself and took the lashings you deserved. Nothing is more pathetic than a coward letting another take their blame, and if I were the High Prince?—”

“What a shame.”

It was as if a mountain had exploded.

A ruthless, lethal growl devastated the air, thickening it, almost as if soundless destruction had leveled a city and its dust constricted their lungs.

Alora hadn’t realized that Storm had simply stopped moving.

Everyone’shorses stopped moving.

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