CAIRN POINT OF VIEW.

They marched us out of Moonfang just after sunrise.

Not in formation, not with the clean precision the inner grounds demanded. But there was still control in the way we moved, subtle, unspoken, enforced by the guards flanking us and the weight of watchful eyes at our backs. Even beyond the gates, nothing was truly unguarded.

The iron doors groaned as they opened behind us, that same deep, grinding sound I was beginning to associate with confinement, and for a brief ...