Prologue
“You stand before me now as children, but when you have concluded my training, you will leave as the best warriors in all the realms. It is your duty and your fate. Give your all because there will come a day when you have to protect those who cannot protect themselves. If you fail in that moment, they will die. You will have to live with that for the rest of your lives. Give your all now, and you will not fail when the time comes.” ~ Ridion, Fae Warmaster
Cyn stood staring with eyes as wide as saucers at the huge man before her and at the other children around her. The man was stern and imposing, but she didn’t feel that he was cruel. He was determined; she could see that in the set of his jaw. There was a challenging gleam in his eyes. She was not sure what the man was determined to do, and she had no idea what challenge he held in store for her.
Nor could she see herself as a warrior. Oh, she had known this was her fate, of course. She’d known that for as long as she could remember. Cyn had been told for the past six summers that she would one day begin her training to become a fae warrior—one of the chosen few that protected not only her realm, but all of the supernatural realms. Finally, that day had come. Her mother and sire had brought her to the castle and assured her she would be a great warrior and have the privilege of protecting others when they could not fight for themselves. She thought that sounded very courageous, but at the same time she didn’t want to leave her parents. Her sire had clasped her arm in the fashion of the fae warrior, and her mother had given her a brief hug and then they’d been gone. From that moment on, she was on the path of her destiny.
“Show no fear, little warrior.”
Cyn looked up at the powerful fae woman before her. The young girl fought the urge to step back. Cyn knew immediately this woman must be one of the high fae, for only they carried the continuously radiating aura that seemed to pulse in the air around them.
“Do I look afraid?” she asked, curious to know if her fear was showing through to those around her.
“You look lost, and that can be as deadly as looking afraid. I will give you some advice, which will cost you nothing. Regardless of whether you know what you are doing, pretend you do.Believeyou do. This belief will project an air of confidence that others can sense. It will inspire your comrades and strike fear into your enemies. No matter how afraid you might become in a situation, project courage and bravery always. And when the time comes that you find yourself in a place of such darkness that you are not sure if light will ever appear again,yoube the spark that starts the flame.”
The woman began to walk away, but Cyn reached for her hand and stopped her. “Who are you?” she asked her.
She gave Cyn a sly smile. “I am Perizada, child. One day, if you’re good enough, you will fight alongside me. But I accept only the best as my personal warriors, so work hard. You will need to be strong for what lies ahead of you.”
“Is that all you’ve got?” Ridion chided as he blocked yet another kick from Cyn. “I’ve been training you for six years. I must be losing my touch. You embarrass me. Give me more!”
Cyn gritted her teeth. She was twelve summers old and well on her way to becoming a warrior, though she just might be put on trial for murder if Ridion didn’t stop pushing her with his taunting words. She was giving everything she could. She worked harder than any other trainee, and yet he still claimed she was not giving enough. Her foot work was flawless, her punches clean, and her kicks high … at least for someone so short. She could aim a knife better than any of her comrades, and she was in the top ten in both archery and swordplay. She didn’t know what more he wanted.
Just as she was about to take a step toward him, Ridion held up his hand to halt their sparring. “Wait a moment, Cyn. Catch your breath.”
Breathing heavily, Cyn looked at her warmaster as if he’d suddenly grown a third eyeball. If she wasn’t entirely mistaken, she thought she actually heard something like sympathy in his voice.
“You’re frustrated, I can tell,” he continued after a moment. “What is bothering you?”
“I don’t understand what you want from me,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’m one of the best trainees, yet you’re never satisfied with me. What am I doing wrong?”
“Nothing,” Ridion responded simply. “You aren’t doing anything wrong.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Cyn barked.
“The fact that youaren’tdoing anything wrong. That’s the problem.”
“Uh, I still don’t understand,” the younger fae responded, a confused look on her face.
“The problem does not lie in your technical performance, in your training effort, or in your discipline. In fact, I probably haven’t seen a recruit in a century work as hard as you at perfection, Cyn. But I don’t need perfection from you. I never have. I need this.” Ridion took two fingers and pressed them into her leather jerkin over the spot where her heart lay. “The darkness we face won’t be beaten by skill alone. If skill alone were enough, I could train anyone to be a warrior and evil would have been eradicated ages ago. I don’t need a person going through motions, doing a duty. Any fae can do that. It takes more. Your stubbornness, your rigidness, makes you a good recruit, sure. But does it make you a warrior? I need someone with a passion to help others, a ferocity that only comes from a hatred of injustice. Those things come from in here.” He gave a final press to her chest and took a step back. “Take the rest of the day to think about that. We start again in the morning.”
He left her standing there confused and frustrated. Cyn understood duty. She understood commitment. But what did passion have to do with fighting? Passion doesn’t parry a sword strike. The heart doesn’t pull a bow string. Hands and arms are what need to be trained.
“Why do you look as though Ridion just tossed your favorite blades into the lake?” Perizada’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.
She turned to look up at the high fae, the woman who’d become a mentor to her while she’d been at the academy. Cyn opened her mouth to respond but realized she didn’t know what to say. Confusion swam in her mind as Ridion’s words echoed in her ears …a ferocity that only comes from a hatred of injustice.
“Did you hear?” Cassius asked as he came rushing into the recruit barracks. Cyn was sitting on her bed lacing up her boots as she looked at him over her shoulder.
“Hear what?”
“We’re going out on a mission,” the eager young man responded.
Cyn stood, her brow lowered over her narrowed eyes. “We still have not reached our seventeenth summer. Why are they sending us out early?”
“Some high fae called Perizada has demanded assistance. Apparently a group of trolls has attacked the pixies, something involving a land dispute.”
Cyn’s mouth dropped open. Trolls attacking pixies? How could the tiny creatures fight against such brutes?
