You’re running through the forest. Something’s chasing you, but you don’t know what. You’re panicking, dodging from tree to tree, running through underbrush and ducking under logs, but you still hear padding feet behind you. It’s gaining all the while, and you’re not sure what to do.

Caliz breathed deeply and quietly as they descended the ladder. It was a long way down, and he was feeling the strain on his arms. I’m in no shape to fight, let alone venture down into these fucking lizard’s native place. Shit. What if they are Vok Archons. "No. Angels can’t be that easy to kill, or we’d do it all the time." He felt the heat of the lantern bounce against his thigh as he climbed down, lighting up the thin tunnel up. The warmth gently radiated across his leg w

Early the next day, Kahara woke quickly and walked to the Heron Archives to talk with Teacher Ot. She told him of her concerns regarding the gremlins she faced the previous day, and the potential of this "Kurshkin" becoming a threat to the school. He assuaged her fears, teaching her of gremlins and their propensity for storytelling, but promised to take her concerns seriously, promising to look into it personally.

Caliz woke to a foot nudging him. He stared up at a woman decked out in studded black leather, intricately crafted to hug her every curve. Two hatchets hung at her hips, with knives in her belted boots. The only skin he could see was her face, her hood hanging back. She was a Nojern woman with what looked to be a ponytail, completely undyed and without makeup. She was a shadow in black armor. “You the newbie?”

He stood atop the cliff-face staring down into oblivion. Nothing mattered, not since Kama died. A freak accident, everyone told him. It couldn’t be helped. But he knew better. He knew the gods were against him, punishing him for a childhood of ill deeds.

Iron hung in the air like fog, clouding their vision, lungs, and hearts. Caliz was slumped against a wall, bleeding from his ribs and arm, his hand twitching in pain. He winced, grabbing at a bundle of herbs from a pouch in his pack, trying to remember the words of Itzel.