The fire crackled low in the center of the chieftain’s hall, casting flickering shadows across the stone walls. Smoke curled toward the rafters like restless spirits. Chief Maleko stood rigid, his eyes burning with fury as he faced the priest.

“What other evidence do you need?” he growled, voice sharp as flint.

Priest Kael blinked, his expression unreadable beneath the folds of his ceremonial hood. “What do you speak of, dear Chief?”

Maleko began to pace, boots thudding against the ...