Pale grey stormclouds rush by.
After a moment, the title appears against the clouds.

The kardakan roared in his face but his vision was clouded by crimson and there was no fear. He drove the sword in under the beast's jaw, panting. Screaming, it died.

The sun was setting by the time Briar di Vail remembered the notes from Lore of Beasts that she'd left in the classroom.

She had never known a night without dreaming. When she was a child, she had to learn that the hard colors and the consistent edges, the persistent smells and the meaningless murmurs, all these things belonged to the real world, the world that mattered.

More than one visitor to Sahalle climbed the steep path up the bluffs to admire the dramatic view of the city. Often there were at least a score of people milling around up there, chattering to companions and strangers about the beautiful lake...