lanna Kawa stood on a canyon edge in a snowbound mountain range. She gingerly looked over the edge. A layer of motionless clouds floated lazily a hundred feet below. The opposite wall of the canyon was a pale, precipitous rock face. The peaks of the mountains in the distance were obscured by small gray clouds.

She turned around and brushed a lock of hair from her eyes. A path of dark, dense soil littered with patches of snow and smooth gravel led into the mountains from the small ridge where Alanna was standing. She took a few steps up the path just as a bracing gust raced down the incline and out into the open sky.

Alanna closed her eyes, shielding them from the icy gale. The ground was soggy, but she found good footing on the very slight incline of the rocky path as it turned sharply to her right. As she walked, she passed several very shallow half-frozen puddles. She could hear the sound of water dripping from behind the rocks and from under the narrow shelves of ice that encrusted the rocks on either side.

It seemed that despite the freezing wind, this part of the mountain range was thawing. Alanna could hear a faint rumbling sound in the distance. What clouds were discernable in the gray sky were moving very slowly. Alanna guessed it might be morning.

The sound was getting louder as she carefully climbed. The ground was beginning to feel more solid. At the end of the path the rocks formed a crude doorway of sorts that seemed to lead into the sky. Only grayness was visible beyond it. A storm of icy water vapor and a frighteningly loud rumbling sound greeted her as she reached the end of the path. A majestic waterfall rained lightly on the smooth rock.

The source of the waterfall was not visible above her. It landed on a crudely semi-circular outcropping another fifty feet below, forming two smaller falls which disappeared into the frosty haze.

Alanna winced and shielded her eyes with her hand at the reflected glare from the haze.

Maybe the sun is out? she thought.

The sound was pleasing even though it was loud. Alanna reached out into the silver sparkle as it rained down. As the first sheets of water drenched her hand and arm, the waterfall vanished!

Alanna felt as if she had suddenly been transported to another place. The silence was so sudden. Dozens of tiny white butterflies fluttered past her. In the place of the waterfall was a translucent bluish spiral staircase that rose from the clouds below straight up into the sky!

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Chapter List

he Warrior of the Sunrise wandered out of the coolness of the cave and shielded her eyes from the bright light of the Chaer afternoon.

“There she is!” a voice shouted. Jessica watched the other Ajan Warriors wave to her.

“Hi Alanna! Hi Ranko!” Jessica shouted, waving back. All of the girls rushed towards their friend at the top of the dusty path leading up into the North Bronzewing Range.

“So glad to have you back and in one piece,” Shannon said, exhaling heavily after their short run. “I’d hug you but those huge metal sunbursts on your armor are kind of sharp.”

Jessica Hoshi giggled and the Huntress couldn’t help but smile. The red and gold adorned warrior who had come to be known by the harmless-sounding name “Minstrel” had become the inspiration for the other Ajan Warriors, and her considerable powers had been the difference in too many battles to count.

The five warriors stood together more or less surrounding their leader. Shannon glanced at the formidable golden sword with the flame crossguards and shining citrine pommel stone in the scabbard at Jessica’s side. It was a weapon that commanded respect from the other Ajan Warriors, because they knew its history and purpose. On several occasions, Reina had explained why the celestium blade of the Sun was unique among the Ajan Treasures. Even the Vicereine had considerable regard for its power. Then the Huntress reached up and scritched Teko’s feathered head.

Alanna smiled a little too, watching the little white bird and his blond, blue-eyed keeper. Things had seemed so ominous while the Warrior of the Sunrise was missing from the group.

Ranko was especially glad to see Jessica again. The weight of leading the Ajan Warriors had been a strain, even though Ranko would never have admitted it. The Warrior of the Storms had not been able to employ her trademark “reckless” approach to combat, and that had been particularly frustrating and limiting for Ranko. Alanna made a point of reminding herself to congratulate the Crimson Champion for balancing her leadership responsibilities with her affinity for “throwing down,” as Ranko called it.

“What about Jarthius?” Talitha finally asked. “What did you see when his summon appeared?”

The bright and cheerful expression on Jessica’s face faded quickly. “It was a demon,” she said, quieting the others. “Sai Jarthius broke the summoning spell himself. One of his Legionnaires tried to distract me, but I saw him break his rune circle.”

The other warriors considered Jessica’s confirmation of their own fears solemnly. They had been right all along. Sai Jarthius deliberately sabotaged his own powers and set a demon loose in Bronzewing Rift with no regard even for the safety of his own forces.

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