Houlun glanced around the hall for any stray ears. “Ruk nests have been pillaged. Eggs stolen in the night, hatchlings vanishing.” Sartaq swore, filthy and low. Nesryn blinked at it, even as her stomach tightened. “Poachers have not dared tread in these mountains for decades,” the prince said. “But you should not have pursued them alone, Ej.” “It was not poachers I sought. But something worse.” Shadows lined the woman’s face, and Nesryn swallowed. If the Valg had come here— “My own ej called them the kharankui.” “It means shadow—darkness,” Sartaq murmured to Nesryn, dread tightening his face.
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