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lake of glass forged in raging tairen flames ,dark with the death of dreams.
    There, shades of men and once-great kings yet battle evil's tide.
    While silvery maidens softly dance and sing of love that died.
    Sariel's Lament by Avian of Celieria

    Ellysetta stood on the balcony of a well-appointed bedchamber in one of Teleon's spacious upper towers and looked up at the Mists. Several bells earlier, the lowering sun set the Mists ablaze, giving the illusion of a curtain of fire burning across the world. Now the night was deep and the Mists were a shifting, shimmering glow of multicolored radiance against the dark of a near-moonless sky.
    The clap of boot heels on stone made her cast a glance over her shoulder. Still clothed in black leather and full steel, his Fey skin as pale and luminous as pearls in moonlight, Rain approached. He'd been meeting with Teleos, Bel, Kieran, and Kiel to discuss the defense of Teleon and review troop strength and dispersal in the rest of Teleos's holdings.
    War was coming. No matter how some still tiptoed around the truth, all of them knew it. They only prayed there would be time enough to prepare before Celieria's borders erupted into open battle.
    And though it seemed a terrible thing to ask, Ellysetta had secretly prayed that when the attack came, the Eld's first strike would come in some far-distant part of Celieria, like Orest or Celieria City, so the Fey would have enough time to evacuate Lillis, Lorelle, and Papa to safety behind the Faering Mists.
    That secret prayer seemed ill-considered now. The hearth witches of the north—and there had been plenty of them living in her childhood town of Hartslea, despite the strong Church presence there—believed that wishing harm upon others would bring three times that harm to the wisher. Was hoping the first battle of a war started somewhere else the same as wishing harm upon another? Ellysetta shivered at the prospect.
    "Cold?" Rain asked. His eyes narrowed. "Or have your wandering souls returned?"
    Ellysetta often experienced inexplicable sudden chills, like ice spiders crawling up her spine. The chills—or "wandering souls" as Rain called them—were insignificant compared to the hideous nightmares and frightening seizures that had afflicted her all her life, and she'd always brushed them off as yet another oddity about her. Rain didn't consider the strange onset of chills as harmless as she always did.
    "Nothing like that," she assured him. "Just a worrisome thought of war."
    His arms tightened. "Your family will be safe. The Fey will see to it."
    "I know." And she did. Kieran and Kiel would die to defend her family. All the Fey staying at Teleon would.
    Rain rubbed a thumb across her lower lip, then bent his head to follow the small caress with a kiss. "There is a thing I need to do tonight before returning to the Fading Lands. I had hoped you would come with me, but perhaps you should stay here, instead, and try to get some sleep."
    "No, I'm fine." She reached for his hand. "You know I can't sleep without you beside me." He was her talisman against the call of the High Mage of Eld, and she feared to fall asleep without him lying there beside her, him arms wrapped about her, protecting her from the very real terrors of the night.
    "Then let's go—and bring your cloak."
    Ten chimes later, they were soaring through the night skies high over Teleon. Ellysetta stretched out her arms and turned her face up to the stars. Rain spun a light Fire weave to keep her warm as the chill, thin air swept past.
    «Hold on.» The brief command was her only warning before Rain twitched back his rounded tairen ears, spouted a warming jet of flame that lit the night, then tucked in his mighty wings and dove.
    Ellysetta screamed with laughter and grabbed for the high, curving pommel of her saddle just as the unsettling thrill of weightlessness came over her. Together, she and Rain fell through the sky, plummeting freely towards the ground miles below. The