Hirselled
Amri
Blood and fire, a rain of poison and steel.
Amri awoke on a pallet of stuffed cloth laid out on the floor of the training hall. A clatter, like hail, sounded off the roof.
Sounds drew her attention, and she looked out the window, tiptoeing up and pulling herself above the rim with tiny fingers. She was still in Shenmi's body, she realized.
The town burned. Its colorful Interstice decorations were lit from below by little fires everywhere. Kites and floating lanterns burned as they flew their final seconds, plummeting as they disintegrated in the stiff wind that soared in from the mountains.
Nearby, the clang of metal resounded through the hall.
"Traitor!" boomed the voice of Bo Xenua, reverberating through the building with fury.
Amri moved toward the door, only to have her wrist grabbed from below.
It was the girl from before. She stared up and Amri with pleading scared eyes. "Don't go..." she said.