“Ayya! Get the sheep! Get the sheep!” shouted a servant who frantically attempted to herd the animals into a corner. But chaos had struck the livestock, and they were bleating their heads off, trying to run from the wyvern that tore at the unlucky victim of its rampage—a lamb that had failed to escape.
Shaden was wide awake the moment Grak began to bare his fangs. He looked out of the window to find another, much larger wyvern in the middle of the yard hissing and growling at Grak, snapping its head left and right as it bit anything that came into its reach. Its scales were darker than Grak’s, and its horns longer. It spread its wings out, approaching Grak with obvious hostility.
Grak was fearful, and his emotions were shared with Shaden. He shrieked when the foreign wyvern lunged at its neck, scratching a good chunk of his flesh off.
Without a second thought, Shaden put his hand out and twisted it, snapping the large wyvern’s neck in half. The wyvern immediately stopped moving, falling onto the ground. Grak continued to flail about, panicking, and Shaden tried to calm him while he began slashing at the fallen wyvern with his wings.
Shaden had never killed something like that before, but now he realized how easy it was. He stared at his hand, wondering what he’d become. Someone too powerful, no doubt.
Why the heck was there a wyvern inside of their area?
Jumping out of his window, he approached the corpse while the servants tried to settle the sheep down around him. Some of them would have seen his feat of power, but they wouldn’t have seen him do it. He guessed that it wouldn’t matter much. They looked more relieved than anything.
Shaya came to the yard while he was patting Grak to calm him down, and her face turned pale when she saw the corpse of the wyvern sprawled on the ground, its neck bent awkwardly to the side. She put a hand to her forehead and looked around, and her eyes eventually fell on him.
“Shaden!” she exclaimed, walking quickly towards him. “I heard there was a hostile wyvern in our midst, and I thought that something happened to your bond, but—”
She raised her hand. “What’s this? Where did this come from?”
By now, Shaden had understood what Grak was trying to say to him. He patted the wyvern and turned to Shaya.
“I think wyverns are territorial,” he said, “and this one—” He pointed at the corpse, “got a scent of mine. Then it came here to show dominance.”
“What kind of crazy idiot would let their wyvern—”
Shaya’s eyes widened. “Examine the wing. Examine the wing now!”
Shaden did. He raised the wyvern’s right wing and looked at it. Shaya joined him soon after, and she stood there, silent.
“Two wyverns in a circle, biting each other’s tail,” Shaden observed. “What does that mean?”
“Something very dire,” Shaya said. “It is the crest of the Royal Family. I’ve heard that they infrequently send out their animals to patrol the city.”
“Oh.”
“Do not worry. I will do something about it,” Shaya said, wiping her face. “It intruded, and you acted out of self-defense, no? Tell me you were the one who snapped its neck.”
“I was.”
“I do not know how I will explain this, but—” She put a thumb on her temple, “I do not know. I will have to ask. Please wait inside where I will be able to find you easily. Eat something and stay in your room. Can I take it that Grak won’t do anything rash?”
“Yes, he will be quiet,” Shaden promised. “Is killing a Royal wyvern...bad?”
Shaya narrowed her eyes. “You may get capital punishment. But don’t worry—our family has our ties.” She sighed and crossed her arms, holding her elbows. “No harm will come to you. You are in our care, are you not?”
But her expression was dark, and her words lacked the usual power they had when she spoke.
“I’m the one who’s responsible,” he told her. “If it comes down to it, I’ll take the punishment. If they sentence death? You can act like you don’t know me, and I can run away. I don’t think anyone could catch me.”
“That is true, but it should be left as a last resort,” she said. “For now, I will talk things over with the city’s officials.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would be this serious.”
Shaya smiled. “Accidents happen, do they not?”
Shaden wished that he hadn’t killed the wyvern right away after seeing her make that expression. He could have retrained it or knocked it out. But his wyvern’s feelings had influenced him, and he’d been filled with rage from its pain. A snap. It had been so quick, so simple.
He finally moved when Shaya came and pushed him away into the building, saying that he’d require his energy for the things that would come soon.
“Eat, and stay strong,” she said. “It’s very stressful to settle these things. You must be in your top condition, lest they try and pressure you to say something you do not mean. But tell me, given your name, would you like to stay hidden?”
“No,” Shaden stated. “I’ll take responsibility.”
This was exciting in its own way. He’d always wanted to see how criminals were dealt with, and in a city such as this, they were bound to have a great judging room, especially if it had to do with the Royal Family. Perhaps he was a little worried, but he was powerful. Shaden was sure he could pay any price.
Besides, the wyvern had attacked first. It would be stupid if the blame was put on them.
Shaya didn’t look impressed, but she nodded. “I will try my best to clear this up,” she assured him.
“I’m sorry about the extra work. You must be busy,” he apologized.
Shaya smiled, then went outside.
Shaden could only wait until the consequences of his actions caught up to him.
⤙ ◯ ⤚
The soldiers arrived at lunch, right before they were about to eat.
Needless to say, Eshel’s face was filled with horror after seeing Shaden called away to the courtyard, and while Shaya talked with the leader of the soldiers, she leaned to him and whispered in his ear.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t get caught?” she exclaimed quietly, doing a variety of frantic hand motions. “What happened to not getting caught?”
“It’s not because of that,” Shaden whispered back. “I killed a wyvern that apparently belongs to the Royal Family.”
Her expression worsened, and lines appeared on her forehead. “You what? So that incident—it was you?”
Shaden shrugged. “Relax. Even the strongest chains won’t hold me in.”
“You say that because you do not know how Antafar treats its prisoners,” she groaned. “The fine will be incredible. You do know that it is capital punishment—”
“Yes, yes, I’ve heard it,” Shaden said, waving her worries away. “So what? I could probably fake my death.”
Eshel raised an eyebrow. “I do not know if I should be worried about you. Should I be? I don’t think you understand how serious this situation is.”
He shrugged. “Eh, no worries. It’ll be like a tour.”
“A—a tour,” she repeated, letting out one, short laugh. “Perhaps. But the blame may fall on us too. A child couldn’t pay for their crimes.”
“Oh.”
Shaden frowned. He hadn’t thought about that.
“But I heard the wyvern attacked first,” Eshel added after seeing his expression change. “There must be a way we can resolve this.”
Shaden didn’t want them to take the blame for what he’d done. He clenched his fists. No, there had to be a good way to solve the situation. He had all of this power, and it would be a shame if he sat there like a naive child unable to say anything while the adults decided everything. So he began to circulate, letting his confidence rise, allowing his senses to sharpen. He took in a deep breath.
“Everything will be okay,” he said softly. “I will make sure of it.”
Eshel looked at him funnily but nodded once.
Eventually, the one who looked like the captain walked up to him and read the charges against him. Crime for killing something that belonged to the Royal Family, crime for killing an animal that was the property of the state, crime for hindering civil order, crime for not registering his wyvern when he came into the city.
“I don’t understand,” Shaden told the man. “They let us bring the wyvern inside without any problems.”
“There wouldn’t have been a problem if the wyvern had been locked behind bars,” the captain snapped, “but you kept it out in the open. Now, your certificate of wyvern possession.”
He put out a hand, and Shaden reached into his pocket, got the document, and handed it over. The man read it, nodded, then handed it over to his subordinate who put it inside of a bag for safekeeping.
“You will accompany us to the Royal Court,” the captain said, and the soldiers around him came forward and held Shaden’s arms before him, putting chains on them. Or they tried to, but the shackles were too big for his wrists. So instead, they tied him with ropes. Tightly. Shaden could bear the pain and loosen the pressure with telekinesis, but he didn’t find the soldiers likable for tying up a child like that.
Then again, he had snapped a wyvern’s neck. He wondered what they thought about that.
“But truly, I never knew the Jakhar Kishaks would fall this low,” the captain muttered so that Shaya could hear. “Placing the blame on a child?”
“I only spoke the truth,” Shaya replied flatly.
“Naturally, as a lying tongue will be cut out and be burned in the fire.”
The captain got on his horse while Shaden was pushed into a wheeled cage made out of wood. It annoyed him how roughly they began to treat him right after he’d been declared as a criminal.
“The hearing will be at the second hour after the full sun,” the captain declared, “as His Majesty, Prince Salahin, shall personally be the judge for your actions. You should be grateful that the trial has been decided so quickly.”
Despite the captain’s unpleasant tone, Shaya maintained her neutrality, never showing a hint of discomfort. When Shaden met her eyes, her face crumpled into a light scowl.
“Shaden, tell me now if you wish to go back, and I will make it happen,” she spoke quietly after nearing his cell.”
“I’m fine, but sorry for this mess,” Shaden smiled. “I hope this won’t hurt the Jakhar Kishaks.”
She shook her head. “You are a strange one. You have all the confidence in the world. Is it because you have power? But you must be aware of your limits.”
“So far, there haven’t been any.”
He waved leisurely as Shaya and Eshel stared at him with dumbstruck faces, and he felt bad for being so lax when the situation was as dire as it was. Maybe he didn’t know the severity of his actions, but how bad could they be? So far, nothing terrible had happened. It couldn’t be worse than being thrown in a muddy trench filled with snakes, spiders, and other venomous creatures, being forced to maintain his stealth to prevent himself from being bitten. He smiled at the memory. Even then, it hadn’t been that bad. Something about circulating made him calm and clear-headed, and he knew he could come out of this safe and sound.
He leaned on the cage, and a soldier forcefully poked him with the butt of his spear—or tried to. Shaden moved out of the way before he was hit.
“Hey!” the footsoldier barked. “Don’t lean on the cage!”
Shaden rolled his eyes.
“Answer! Didn’t you hear what I said?!”
“Yes,” Shaden replied.
“Louder,” the soldier growled. “You—”
The soldier yelped as he tripped, tried to gain balance, then fell straight on his face with a loud thump. The fall wouldn’t have been as bad as it would have been had it been natural, and Shaden feigned ignorance as the soldier awkwardly rubbed his nose and continued to march while keeping his eyes forward.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Shaden could spot some soldiers throwing scornful glances at the soldier who’d tripped, but their expression vanished immediately when the tripped soldier looked around. By the looks of it, he was their superior, since he had more marks than them.
Guess he was just a jerk.
Yawning, he leaned back on an invisible chair he created with his mana hands and closed his eyes.
When Shaden arrived at the destination, a different guard banged on the cage motioned to him.
“Get out,” he ordered. “You are lucky that your trial is held today.”
At least this guy wasn’t as bad as the first. “Why’s that?” Shaden asked.
“Because—you will be held within the Sun Palace instead of a cell. Now, off you go.”
The Sun Palace was a large orange building made of the same material as the wall and other buildings—a kind of smooth concrete. He’d discovered as Demund that volcanic ash could be used in creating concrete. But it was more orange than the rest, and it towered over the structures around it. At a glance, it was a trapezoid—at least, the entrance was.
“Is this where the Royal Family lives?” Shaden asked, looking around. The tall pillars were great, but there wasn’t much decoration around. Still, it was beautiful. The building had holes on top that allowed the sunlight to shine through.
The soldier didn’t reply, but judging by the way he looked at him, Shaden guessed not. Now he felt like an idiot. Of course, there had to be more to the palace than the building he was in. There had been a wall around the whole perimeter, for goodness’ sake.
They searched him before he was pushed into a barred cell with only a small window high above, too small to crawl out of. But nothing was taken from him, as he’d concealed his personal pouch with magic. Two soldiers stood guard in front—new faces.
He hadn’t had lunch yet. He glanced at the guards and cleared his throat.
“I haven’t eaten yet,” he told them. They didn’t reply.
Shaden sighed and sat down on the floor. There was nothing there but a clean, straw mat. At least the palace wasn’t infested with bugs or rats.
He wished he’d taken Shaya’s advice and eaten more before he’d been brought here. Now, with nothing to do, he laid on the ground and looked at the ceiling, eventually closing his eyes to focus his mana.
While using detection magic was quicker, sensitive users of mana could feel it. Slowly, thinning his mana out so that it would blend in with the mana concentration of the air, Shaden spread his power around him to sense the structure of the building. It was a kind of second vision but without color—something like echolocation. Manalocation, he liked to call it. There was always a thin cloud of his mana around him now, since it allowed him to tell if something was trying to strike him from the back.
The place was surprisingly empty. Besides the guards and a few others on patrol, there was no one. Spreading his power out more, there was a room Shaden guessed was a court with all of its seats and tables, but beyond it, he’d have to increase his mana to sense better, and the guards would probably notice.
Or would they? They were circulating, but slowly—a trickle compared to his river. He decided not to risk it. He wished he had his flute with him so he could practice.
Time went by incredibly slowly, and Shaden thought that he would never get out when the guards finally opened the door to his cell and pulled him out. As he expected, they led him towards the courtroom, and through his senses, he could tell that the room was already occupied by the people he knew—Shaya, Eshel, Keyga, and other servants and people Shaden had seen with Shaya. He smiled when he saw them, though their faces were anything but glad.
Shaden hadn’t wanted things to turn out this way. Even while circulating, it was unnerving to stand before the courtroom while everyone’s eyes were focused on him. Besides his acquaintances, there were officials in white robes with orange decorations sitting on the elevated seats before him, and at their center stood a vacant throne that was the most extravagant furniture in the room. Carved from yellow marble with streaks of orange and red reminiscent of the sun, the seat was adorned with sculptures of wyverns and dragons and other great beasts, with two wyvern heads where the armrests were. It looked uncomfortable to sit in, but beautiful to behold.
Shaden stood there while the whole court waited for the prince to arrive. But Shaden didn’t sense anyone who could be called a prince nearby. He had no choice but to remain standing until the prince entered—which happened to be nearly two hours later.
Prince Salahin strode into the court, his long, golden robes flowing behind him while a small crown of gold shined upon his head. He looked bored but irritated—he frowned when he saw Shaden at the front and scowled when he saw the Jakhar Kishaks behind him. He waved his hand lazily when everyone got up to greet him, sitting down on the throne with his legs wide open, leaning to the side.
He had a beard, a short, trimmed one, but his very curly hair made him look younger. His eyes were wide, like a madman’s, and he scratched his chin while looking over the people before him.
“This is the individual that slew my wyvern?” he spoke, his voice unexpectedly loud, filling the room.
“It is him,” the prosecuting official answered. He’d been sitting all this while but had gotten up when the prince had arrived.
“Tell me the charges,” the prince ordered.
“These are his charges,” the prosecutor began, “killing the beast of His Majesty, killing an animal belonging to the great capital of Antafar, hindering civil order through slaying the protector of the great city, and failure of wyvern registry upon entering the great city. These are the charges that have been brought against him.”
The prince nodded. “So they are. What do you have to say for yourself? May the defendant defend himself.”
It was someone Shaya had brought that spoke for him. “Your Majesty, I shall speak against his charges,” the man said. “The—”
“No,” the prince spoke, and the room went silent. “Let the boy speak for himself. Is that not why he has taken the blame?”
Shaden looked back at the man and Shaya, whose faces had gone pale. He could tell that Eshel’s fists were clenched where they wouldn’t be seen, and her jaw was pressing hard against her skull.
He turned around and looked at the prince.
The prince stared back, his wide eyes unwavering. Shaden didn’t like him at all. His attitude was that of someone looking down at an inferior lifeform, doing whatever he felt like doing.
“I merely defended myself,” Shaden said, glancing at the prosecutor. “It was the wyvern that attacked first. The servants of the Jakhar Kishaks are my witnesses.”
The prince simply stared.
Shaden didn’t know much about law, much less the law of a foreign country. He could feel his nervousness rising. He wished he could simply vanish and run away, but then Shaya and her family would take the blame.
“As for the wyvern, I didn’t know,” Shaden added. He immediately regretted saying so after feeling everyone’s expressions darken behind him.
The prince almost rolled his eyes.
“I—”
Shaden stopped. He didn’t know how to defend himself.
“It was your wyvern that trespassed into the territory,” Shaden said, his excuses waning with each word.
“Insolent child!” the prosecutor cried. “The whole city of Antafar is His Majesty’s to roam! You have spoken against His Majesty. For this—and your crimes—I propose death through hanging. Let the city know the fate of anyone who kills the wyvern of Velemededaz.”
The prince only stared. But Shaden saw the corner of his lips slightly curl up. Just barely enough to make him look very creepy.
“Any more to say in your defense?” the prince said with a yawn.
Shaden wanted to blow up the whole building. He looked back and saw the terrified faces of the people who cared about him, and it made him want to strangle the prince and the prosecutor. He could if he wanted to. But he couldn’t let the Jakhar Kishaks take the blame.
“I have a proposition,” Shaden declared, matching the prince’s stare. “I am a user of magic, which allowed me to kill the wyvern. But I can also use it to heal. Send me to the Wall of Arrows, and I will heal the injured there.”
“What can a mere boy like you do?” the prince scoffed. “Surely you will heal a scratch or two.”
“No,” Shaden asserted. “I will heal a thousand men in exchange for the crimes I have committed.”
The room was silent until the prince began laughing. Yet no one laughed with him; even the prosecutor’s face was frozen.
“An audacious and confident one,” the prince spoke, suddenly stern. “Make it ten thousand, and I will set you free. But should you fail to accomplish this, I will wipe out the Jakhar Kishaks that live in this city. Until you save ten thousand people, not one hair of the Jakhar Kishaks will enter nor leave the city.”
Until he healed ten thousand people, it would be a life sentence.
The prince got up then left the room, and the guards that came in with him followed him out. Shaden was about to be pulled out by the guards when Shaya interjected, stopping them in their tracks.
“Shaden! Ten thousand people?!” Shaya cried, her face stricken with fear and worry. “Your words have become our undoing. I should have taken the blame. Then—”
“You stupid boy!” Eshel shouted, looking as if she was about to burst into tears. “Had you stayed quiet, we could have done something else!”
Shaden felt terrible. But only because the people he’d come to appreciate looked afraid and appalled.
“Everything will be okay,” he assured. “You don’t have to worry.”
“What makes you think you can heal ten thousand—or a thousand people?!” Eshel demanded, almost screaming. “You are out of your mind! Should you run away—we will all—”
“Hush, sister,” Shaya snapped. She took in a deep, shaky breath. “If you run away, know that we will meet our end.”
She took his hands in her, then kissed them. “You are our protector, are you not? We have no choice but to put our trust in you now.”
“Sister—”
“What else can we do?” Shaya said, turning to her sister. Her voice trembled from suppressing her emotion. “There is nothing else we can do.”
“We are a powerful family,” Eshel whispered.
“Not powerful enough,” Shaya said. “Though if Father hears about this—no, it is best if he does not. We cannot risk the whole family due to the faults of a few.”
“We are innocent—”
Eshel glanced at Shaden, then turned her head around.
“If you are truly what the tales say,” she muttered, “then show us.”
She stomped out of the room, Keyga following after her, the most anxious Shaden had ever seen him. Shaya was the last to leave.
“Please,” she whispered.
“There is nothing to worry about,” Shaden told her, feeling down but confident. “I could meet the quota within a week if there are enough injured people.”
“May it be as you say,” she nodded, then left.
Shaden felt a pang in his heart. They didn’t believe him because he was only a child.
Should he destroy the whole palace? These people that made one-sided rulings, he could bring them all to their ends. While he hadn’t killed anyone before, he knew it would be as easy as bending a finger.
“You can do it, kid.”
Shaden looked up at the soldier who’d spoken. His face was wrought with pity, a look of genuine concern.
“It’s not good to lie or be overconfident,” the man said. “How old are you?”
“Ten,” Shaden replied.
“I see. Good luck.”
Shaden sighed. He could calm down and do what he had been tasked to do. Ten thousand people—if he healed a thousand a day, he’d finish in ten days. While he’d never tried healing multiple people before, it would be as simple as flooding an area with healing magic. It would require ridiculous amounts of mana, but that wouldn’t be a problem for him.
They’d come here with the plan to stay for a month, hadn’t they? It would be fine, he told himself. This was like the original plan—just forced and with an unpleasant aftertaste, but still the same.
He’d thought that he would spend the night before leaving, but they sent him east right away through a prison wagon along with other criminals. Besides him, there weren’t any children, nor were there light-skinned people. Foreigners seemed rare in this kingdom of sand.
The more they headed east, the rockier it became. The prisoners had all been quiet, including himself, but it was still a frustrating journey, hot and dry. Only Shaden’s lips remained plump, and it was on their second day traveling that he used his magic to keep the inside of the carriage cool for their sake. They seemed surprised, but no one complained.
Shaden began to hate the prince. The food was horrible, and water was sparsely given. Even to a child like him, the soldiers showered no mercy, giving him the same treatment as the other adults. Some even attempted to trip him, but they all gave up soon after seeing him dodge everything. There was a small rumor that went around that told of a curse that befell anyone who harassed the weird child, though whether or not balding overnight was really from the curse or other causes, only Shaden knew.
On their sixth day, they finally reached the Wall of Arrows.
Shaden hadn’t expected it to be as tall as the walls of Naerathim.
⤙ ◯ ⤚
“Line up, you filthy mucks. Let’s brighten those faces, shall we? This is no place for sad criminals. This is a place for happy criminals who love to serve the citizens of Nafar. Now, laugh!”
Nobody laughed, but they all began to hysterically giggle awkwardly when the warden unsheathed his curved sword. With a nod, he sheathed it.
“If you die here, no one will care,” the man barked, taking long, slow steps before them intimidatingly. “If you fall, no one will care. If you get eaten or bitten, no one will care. But if you do your work properly and don’t show signs of disobedience, someone might care. Someone like me.”
He stopped in front of Shaden, who looked up. Despite everyone else looking haggard, he was perfectly fine. He was a bit hungry, but his energy wasn’t lacking thanks to his circulation.
“What’s with you?” the captain demanded, looking down. “Stole something important?”
“I killed Prince Sala-something’s wyvern,” Shaden replied.
The captain frowned, cocked his head, then walked on.
“There is no escape from the Wall,” he declared. “To the east, bloodthirsty creatures await you. To the west, a vast desert obstructs the way to salvation. Alone, you will die. Together, you will live. Escape if you dare, but prepare for a beating of your life if you ever come back.”
The prisoners were too tired to reply, though a few of the scarier-looking ones glared at the captain, earning them a kick to the stomach.
“We fight to protect and live! Your lives may have been useless before, but here, you can do something of value. The better you are, the deeper into the Wall you will go. But if you are lazy, unconstructive, rude, then up to the top you go where the wyverns fly.”
Some people gulped. Shaden, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to see the top.
While the captain was continuing his speech, growing more boring with every sentence, a messenger came up to him as whispered to his ear. He nodded and looked at Shaden.
“You, boy. The hell did you do?” The captain shook his head. “Up the Wall you go.”
“Is there anyone who is going to keep an eye on me?” Shaden asked.
“Don’t ask such foolish questions. Of course there will be.”
“Will they count how many people I’ve healed?”
The captain pulled him by the arm and threw him to the soldiers who had come to get him. “What are you talking about? Get up there.”
Shaden looked around grumpily as he was dragged across the earth towards the base of the Wall where the entrance was. The Wall was made out of the same material as Antafar, and its size was something that could be called a small mountain. Even its length reached as far as the eye could see. While there weren’t any visible cities at the bottom of the Wall, the sheer size of it suggested that people lived within it—a whole city within the Wall of Arrows.
Or he guessed there was because from what he heard, the Wattayurks lived here. At least the thought of discovering something new cheered him up a little.
But didn’t anyone know that he was here to heal, not to provide labor? He tried asking a soldier, but they ignored him pushing him forward.
“Up the stairs,” they ordered. “You will be assigned to a job at the top.”
“What job? I’m here to heal!” Shaden complained.
As a reply, they hit him—or tried to—with the butt of their spears, forcing him to walk up a step, then the next. Grumbling, Shaden ascended the hollow spiral and walked and walked and walked until looking down made his head spin. When he was almost at the top, he activated his stealth, then proceeded to look around without any interruptions.
So far, it looked peaceful. Rows and rows of ballistae were positioned along the top of the Wall, pointed towards the east, as well as a seemingly endless supply of arrows, spears, and pikes that were stacked across the entirety of the Wall, tied by thick ropes. People were moving about, prisoners and soldiers alike, some patrolling, many of them simply cleaning, while others were looking over the weapons.
They hadn’t even bothered to chain his arms. Leaning back on a pile of wooden shafts, he looked into the sky and sighed, wondering where things had gone wrong. Had they not heard the news? Or did the prince simply not care, wanting him to rot here for the rest of his life?
Shaden bit his lip. That bastard. He’d show him.
But for now, he’d enjoy the scenery.
The wind felt great when he was so high up in the sky. He’d rest for a while before showing himself. They’d grow suspicious if he didn’t.
While he was counting the clouds floating past, he saw a strange, black cloud approaching the Wall from the horizon. As soon as he’d seen it, the air was filled with the bonging of bells, loud enough to make his skull vibrate. Shaden narrowed his eyes.
His chance to shine would come sooner than expected. Because the strange black cloud wasn't a cloud at all.
It was a giant flock of wyverns, headed straight towards the Wall.