...but why show a devil you know his strength. It just makes me a threat to him.

They call me the Morning Star. That star by which griffin-riders and travelers navigate the wastes in the dark months of winter. The last star that disappears when daylight returns in the spring.

All my people sing of are memories. And so I will remember this death. It will burden me as it does not burden my fellow students -- I must not let that change. I must not become like them. I'll remember that every sin, every death, every sacrifice, is for freedom.

'I killed their pack leader,' Sevro says when I ask why the wolves follow him. He looks me up and down and flashes me an impish grin from beneath the wolf pelt. 'Don't worry, I wouldn't fit in your skin.'

'Found the sheep too easy to kill?' I ask. 'Where'd you get the weapon?'

'Born with them.' His fingernails are bloody.

I live for the dream that my children will be born free. That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.'
'I live for you,' I say sadly.
She kisses my cheek. 'Then you must live for more.