Suddenly, I could feel a quiver in the air—faint enough that it could have been the earth adjusting beneath the foundations of Fangreach. Hours before dawn I mounted the walls, my cloak pulled close against a cold that was only partly caused by ice. The courtyard below me was filled with silence, guards on parade, and banners hanging forlorn against the dawn wind. Kael followed suit and now we each watched our breath fog in the silence.
"Do you feel it?" I asked, breathless.
He glanced around, eyes narrowed. "Something… wrong." He extended his hand and brushed my wrist. The three quarters of the crescent mark burned under his fingers—a reverberation of the Moonclaw's strength, and now, a warning.
Before I could respond, a murmurous rumble sounded through the stone spires, a low, rolling echo of distant thunder that did not diminish. My heart stuttered.
Then came the howl.
