Khorijin's invocation had barely passed her lips when her vision went dark as color drained from the world. For a moment, she couldn't hear, couldn't move, couldn't even breathe as a sense of deep, foreboding wrongness overwhelmed her.
Everything felt larger and vaster and so, so much more distant than it should be. The world was cold in a way that had nothing to do with the frost and snow on the ground and…
"No!" Khorijin shouted, shaking her head furiously as she snatched back her power, unwilling to pay the price her sorcery demanded of her.
What kind of world had she just glimpsed, bereft of warmth and joy? What kind of heartless, cruel fate would she suffer for striking Erling down?
"How important is that man?" Khorijin whispered as she wiped cold sweat from her brow. "That killing him would cost so much? Or would it be retribution from the Evergreen Empress for slaying one of her lords?"
