Pain.
That was the first thing Faelyn registered when consciousness returned.
Her head throbbed like someone had taken a hammer to her skull. Her neck ached where Velryn had pressed that pressure point.
Everything hurt.
She opened her eyes slowly.
Stone ceiling. Single torch. Familiar cell.
Back where she started.
[Fur. You're awake.]
'Barely.'
Faelyn sat up carefully, fighting nausea.
Memories crashed back.
The escape. Running through eastern tunnels. Moonlight ahead. Freedom five feet away.
Then Velryn.
Dropping from outside the cave like he'd been tracking her the whole time.
Which he had been.
Because he was the best tracker in four territories.
'I was so close.'
[You were. Almost made it.]
'Almost doesn't count.'
She pressed her palms against her eyes, breathing through the headache.
Her ribs still ached where Velryn's blade had cut her during the standoff with Roshan and Nyx.
That felt like years ago instead of just—
'Wait. How long was I unconscious?'
