Sagacia's moon illuminated the midnight sky, casting a ghostly shadow over the encampment on the bright side of the mountain. What had once been a towering monument of rock and crag had been hollowed out into a claw-like shell, destroyed from days and days of constant assault.

Eden sat at the base of the mountain, looking up at all the work she'd done over the past few weeks. She now wore a white vest with a matching red hakama skirt. Both were souvenirs from Azuka's ...