Phyr Nu savored another mouthful of fermented eeika juice. It was plentiful here. The trees surrounding the field where the Hooark held their flying drills were eeika.

Life doesn’t make sense anymore.

He’d come to the Challenge expecting the Hooark to send him to Shaae. It would have meant an end to the guilt and loneliness that had plagued him since his brother was killed.

I should have just offered Aa Vuoy my life.

He hadn’t been able to do that. The Hooark had taken his brother, Tsir Nu. Phyr could not cheapen his brother’s life by throwing his away. So he’d gone through with the ridiculous sparring session. That was all it had been. Aa Vuoy had never intended to kill him. He still didn’t know what she wanted of him, but it wasn’...

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