/-Maleek-/

The communication crystals had been working since dawn.

Pack after pack received our message, our evidence, our desperate plea for alliance. Some responded with support. Others with skepticism. A few with silence that suggested they were already compromised.

But it was working. Slowly, carefully, Ryker was building a network of resistance.

Draven and I had spent the morning preparing for the ritual combat challenge. It was technically illegal to issue challenges to High Council ...