(Year 0)

Kallista trudged through the snow, her mind whirling. Even in the sharp rock cliffs at the edge of the Forbidden Peaks, it was bitterly cold. It had been eight days since her mission assignment, and still, she didn’t know what to do. Her training dictated that she carry out the assigned mission, but her emotions told her not to.

Her survival instinct was conflicted.

I should kill her so the Raven Empire council doesn’t kill me. She just didn’t know if she could take Esfali. She certainly couldn’t have when her friend had left one year before, but she could hope that her rigorous training had helped her catch up.

She thought back to her assignment, as she had a hundred times already.

“It has come to our attention that an assassin sent to eliminate a traitor failed in their mission,” the man had told her. “I believe you and the traitor were partners for a time.”

She had nodded complacently, still in shock.

“The traitor ran to hide in the Forbidden Peaks. While she doesn’t pose a direct threat to our mission while she’s there, she had important information and therefore must still be eliminated. You will find the traitor and kill her.”

She’d bowed her head, thoughts raging. “Of course. I am loyal to our cause and will do what needs to be done. But… don’t you need me to help in the battle against the Falcondars?”

“If things go as planned, your skills will be more valuable elsewhere. You were friends with Esfali, were you not?”

“I was.”

“Then you should have no trouble figuring out where she went.”

Kallista had nodded her head. “Of course, Sir.”

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed a lone figure struggling through the snow perhaps a hundred paces ahead. The girl’s snow white hair swept across her dark cloak in the wind, and she clutched her arms tightly. Kallista jogged forward curiously. She wanted to deploy her skates, but doubted their usefulness in the snowy field. I could always use charges to blast myself around…

The girl spun around, having noticed Kallista’s steps. For a second, the girl was frozen, a frightened look in her eyes, before she raised a hand to her wrist and a machine materialized between the two, one all too familiar. Then she started, blushing when she saw Kallista. “Sorry.”

She had ice blue eyes and pale skin. That, with her snow-white hair and the skybike, was obvious enough. Lynsa? No… too young. Merila or Cassidia, then.

Kallista stared at the girl, then at her skybike, trying not to show her shock. “I thought only royalty could make weapons like that.” Royalty and a very certain underground organization intent on destroying them.

The girl looked down, the skybike shimmering and disappearing back into her bracelet. “I’m Cassidia Falcondar. I… was sent away in case someone attacked the castle.” She said it as if she didn’t believe it was true.

How convenient. How very convenient. Knowing what had to be done, Kallista breathed in and out slowly, readying herself but hesitating. Her hand twitched toward the revolver on her hip, concealed by her cloak, but she couldn’t grab it.

Cassidia watched her, looking confused. “Are you alright?”

All I have to do is grab the gun, or even just deploy my wheels and slice her throat. She won’t have time to mount her skybike and escape. Still, she hesitated.

Cassidia took a step back. “Is everything okay?”

“Um… yeah.” No! No, it’s not! We’re so close! “Everything’s alright. What brought you up to the Forbidden Peaks?”

“My father told me to leave,” the Princess explained in a rush. “He said we weren’t safe. He said there was going to be an attack and the only place they wouldn’t find me was the canyons, and then I went there, and they told me the only safe place was the Forbidden Peaks.”

How bitterly ironic. Still, Kallista couldn’t move, couldn’t strike. She’s fifteen. Of course, I was well into running missions by that age two years ago… she has no right to live after what her family has done.

Kallista jumped forward, flipping and deploying her wheels.

The princess moved faster than Kallista had expected. With a screech, she jumped backward, drawing a blade from her hip with a sharp ring. The next second, they both were flying backward, Kallista’s feet knocked back by an invisible force and Cassidia propelled by her grip on the weapon.

Kallista landed with her face in the snow, her pack rolling to a stop a few feet away as it seemed to be propelled by the same force. The force on her boots stopped, and she scrambled to her feet, grabbing her revolver and shaking the snow out of her frizzy hair.

Cassidia stood up about ten feet away, the bright silver blade still clutched in her hand. She rubbed her shoulder where it had been yanked back by the weapon’s force, but her expression was confused, scared, and hurt. “You’re one of them too, aren’t you?” she accused. “The very monster Father sent me to escape.” Her lip quivered, but she held the weapon firmly.

Kallista looked down, the words hurting her more than she cared to admit. What is wrong with me? She’s the enemy! “Yes,” she said finally. “I am.”

Cassidia screamed again, and again, Kallista was thrown backward. This time, Cassidia had braced the hilt of the weapon against her shoulder, managing to hold herself steady as Kallista flew back. As soon as Cassidia skidded to a halt in the snow, she flicked the switch on her bracelet, summoning her skybike again.

What the hell is that blade weapon? Kallista wondered, bracing herself in a crouch. Her hand hovered by her revolver.

Cassidia jumped onto her skybike.

Kallista drew and fired, but her hand shook, causing her to miss as the Princess took off. She rocketed into the air, snowy hair flying out behind her, and Kallista cursed, readying a charge in her boots. I’d give anything for a nice concrete road, right about now, she thought as she ran forward. She jumped, setting off a charge and shooting upward toward the Princess.

Her cloak dragged in the air, causing her to fall short, and she threw it off with a hiss of annoyance before spending another charge to regain her lost height.

She caught the skybike’s wing, yanking her arm painfully and causing the bike to jerk to the side under her weight.

The Princess yelped, leaning away from Kallista and steering her bike into a tight turn, but Kallista managed to keep her grip. She growled, pulling herself up the wing, and sent a charge off into the place where it connected to the rest of the machine.

The skybike jerked in the air, spiralling into a tight canyon and heading straight toward one of the jagged cliffs. Kallista screamed, letting go of the wing and dropping. She angled her body so her feet touched the rock face, but the uneven surface only served to twist her ankle and chip at her skates. Cursing, she angled sideways and set off a charge, skidding into the snow. Luckily, it was deep enough to soften her fall, and she came to a stop, wincing as a dozen aches sprung up in her body.

A scream of terror pierced her muddled mind, and she looked up. The Princess was hanging desperately in the air from the hilt of her weapon. As Kallista watched, she seemed to tilt forward, screaming as the invisible force holding her up came off balance.

Kallista noticed the blade’s blue sheath stuck in the snow, seemingly the anchor for the force. So it pushes on metal or something?

As soon as Cassidia landed, she stumbled to her feet, clawing her way through the snow in an attempt to run.

Toward Kallista.

Then she realized why.

Above them, the skybike had crashed into the rock, setting off a firework display of electrical and fire charges. As Kallista watched, more cracks in the cliff face began to spread, sending larger and larger rocks tumbling down.

Eyes widening, Kallista jumped to her feet, turning away from the Princess. The cliffs seemed to close in around her as she ran through the snow, not wanting to use a charge for fear of jumping up into a falling rock. She heaved for air, pushing her already-tired muscles to move faster, until at last, she burst out into a wider space.

She stumbled to a stop, gasping for breath and turning around. Behind her, Cassidia cleared the tight area as well. She stumbled and fell forward. Her panic-stricken blue eyes looked up to meet Kallista’s… and then a rock smacked her in the back of the skull.

Oh gods. Oh, power of the Dasing Guardians. What have I done? Kallista backed up in shock, staring at the Princess lying limply in the snow. She was just a child. Her father and eldest sister are the monsters.

She didn’t deserve to die.

Esfali was right.

Not sure of what came over her, Kallista rushed back, kneeling beside Cassidia. She checked the Princess over and nearly collapsed in relief when she felt that she was still breathing.

A low, heavy rumble reached her ears. She glanced up to see a spray of snow pour over the edge of a cliff, followed by more. Oh no. Oh no. Her adrenaline spiked as she scrambled back to her feet, pushing her way through the snow.

The Princess!

What the hell am I doing?

Kallista stopped. She turned around.

She forced herself not to look up as she again ran back to the unconscious Princess, crouching down and taking hold of the girl under her arms. The Princess was two years younger than Kallista, but still several inches taller, and Kallista could barely drag her through the snow, much less pick her up.

Okay, then, fine. Getting an idea, Kallista held the girl close to her chest and turned around, then let herself fall backward. Just before her head would have hit the snow, she set off a charge from her boots, shoving the two of them forward. Kallista’s bushy hair dragged through the snow, and more of the cold powder built up inside her boots, but she was moving.

She set off a few more charges, but stopped when a shadow covered her vision. Quickly, she relaxed her body, limbs dragging into the snow, and tumbled to a stop with the Princess still clutched before her.

It was a good thing, too, because she’d been headed straight for a jagged cliff face that blocked out the sun. Kallista took only a moment to glance at it and confirm that it wasn’t currently falling apart. Then she climbed to her feet, grabbed the Princess once again, and started dragging her along the cliff’s base. The rumble of snow grew ever louder in her ears, the snow seared into her skin, but she hardly noticed any of it. She was moving.

She was doing something that might make her worth something to somebody.

Finally, she made it to a point where the cliff face stopped, leaving a sort of alcove between the massive rocks before it continued on a ways ahead. Kallista dragged the Princess into the alcove. She didn’t consider whether it would be enough. It was going to be enough.

“For Dasdaka’s sake!” she gasped as she stopped again, unable to continue.

The hair on the back of her neck tickled as she felt someone behind her.

Her heart stopped as her mind jumped to the only other person she knew to be in the Forbidden Peaks. For a second, she really considered that it might be her. But no, she wouldn’t have waited until now to show herself, and if she had, she wouldn’t just be standing there behind Kallista.

And there was way too much static in the air.

Kallista slowly turned around, facing the boy behind her. He stood almost a foot taller than her, arms crossed as he glanced around at the situation. His mouth was tugged into a scowl, and his pale brows were furrowed darkly, but his silver eyes gleamed with a strange light, almost smiling despite the rest of his expression as he glanced back at Kallista.

And the same black-hilted sword was strapped to his back.

“What about my father?” Jake asked.