The fluttering of smaller wings came, flapping wildly as snow began to fall. I suddenly understood Aydun’s words about our union because something was rising from within me. It was a thing—a powerful thing that had always been there. Waiting. Watching. Caged. And it was cold. Unending. And it tasted of ruin and wrath. It promised death and destruction. And I would unleash it, from the west to the east, laying waste to all in between.
