Thunderwood Forest, somewhere deep in the woods.
Arden, riding on the Storm Vulture, landed among the trees, looking frantic and utterly stunned.
"My lord, the scouts hidden at Thunderpeak Mountain have reported—Lord Ariel has been killed!"
Silence!
The entire forest went deathly quiet.
A gentle breeze slipped among the trees, brushing through the leaves and drifting away through the gaps, its faint rustling unexpectedly clear and soothing.
Lord Gareth slowly opened her eyes, wondering if she'd just misheard. Lord Ariel was a lord even stronger than she was—how could Ariel possibly have been slain? The lords in the surrounding regions were all relatively equal in power, so the odds of any one of them dying in battle were practically nil.
So Gareth gave Arden a frosty stare, frightening him so much that he started trembling from head to toe.
"M-My lord, there's no mistake about the news—our spy among the harpies confirmed it."
