Eden dragged a thunderstorm behind him.

Violet watched the clouds build, swelling with rain. Their dark underbellies marched across the land, overtaking everything. Ahead of the squadron a wall of thick smoke barred their vision. Violet knew this area—they were entering the borderlands—but she hardly recognized it.

An unnatural mist, one that Eden couldn’t control, wove through the trees, undercutting the smoke and eating the sunlight. Farms sat deserted. Sheep and cattle ...