Her heart swelled with courage. And she sprang.

Although several paces from Shane, Abeke closed the distance with a single leap. Hurtling through the air, she lashed out with one leg and kicked the attacker in the arm. He spun to one knee and his sword flew free, clattering across the plank floor. The man rose to his feet with a vicious uppercut that Abeke evaded almost without thought. He backed off a step or two, one hand up, ready for combat, the other flopping useless at his side. Abeke leaped forward and kicked him in the ribs, her foot crashing through his attempt to block it. The blow landed with enough force to send the assassin flying into the wall. He slumped facedown.

Her instincts screamed to finish the job, but before Abeke could close in, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. “No, Abeke! No more! It was pretend. He was acting.”

She slipped out of her heightened state and glared at Shane. “Pretend?”

Uraza gave an angry growl, the first Abeke had heard from the leopard.

“I wanted to see how you would perform under pressure,” Shane explained. “It worked, Abeke. That was incredible! Many of the Marked train their entire lives without ever attacking like that.”

Trembling with unreleased energy, Abeke struggled to calm herself. The praise did not escape her notice, but it was hard to embrace it when she felt so stunned. “You got a true response through trickery,” she said. “What you just did to us was a betrayal.”

“I-I’m sorry.” Shane’s smile fell. His earlier excitement gave way to embarrassment. “Really. I was trying to help. It was a training technique. I didn’t know you’d see it this way.”

“Never again,” Abeke said, struggling to calm herself, “or the next time you’re in trouble, we will let the attackers have you.”

“Agreed.” Shane ran a hand through his hair. “You’re right, it was unfair to you and to Uraza. It won’t happen again.”

Abeke felt some of the tension leave her. She nodded toward the fallen assailant. “Is he all right?”

Shane crouched beside him and felt his neck. “He’s unconscious. He’ll live.” He shook his head. “Honestly, I couldn’t imagine you would have been able to take out a trained, full-grown opponent. Let me take care of this. You know the way back to your cabin.”

Abeke turned and found Uraza facing her, having approached silently. Now there was no doubt about the wordless understanding. Abeke held out her arm. With a searing pain and a brief flash, Uraza leaped to become a blaze of black just below her elbow.

6 SUNSET TOWER

ROLLAN STOOD WITH HIS HEAD TIPPED BACK, USING ONE hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he followed the flight of his falcon. Essix turned in two wide circles, soaring higher than the tallest spire of the Greencloak fortress.

The grass came up to Rollan’s knees. Inside Sunset Tower, they had training rooms and spacious courtyards, but he preferred spending time outside the walls. Too many people inside the fortress stared at him, some with doubt, others expectantly. Either reaction unsettled him.

Besides, it was prettier outside. Wilderness had surrounded Concorba at a distance, but he rarely ever saw it. There were a few parks in town, some weedy lots, and the muddy banks of Sipimiss River, but the port city was mostly a place of commerce. He had occasionally seen farmland beyond the town boundaries, but nothing like this — not big hills, not woods, not wild meadows.

An imposing collection of bulky structures enclosed by tall walls of heavy stone, Sunset Tower was not the main Amayan stronghold of the Greencloaks. Rather, it served as the westernmost Greencloak outpost in Northern Amaya. Any farther west led to untamed land controlled mostly by beasts and the Amayan tribes.

Rollan whistled. “Essix, to me!”

The bird continued to glide on lofty breezes.

“Essix, come!”

The falcon drifted through another lazy turn.

“Get down here! How hard is it to follow simple instructions? The dimmest kid I know can do that much!”

Bad move. Essix now seemed to be flying farther away from him on purpose. Rollan took a calming breath. He had already learned that shouting angry words would keep the bird in the sky all day. “Please, Essix,” he called more gently. “Olvan wants us to learn to work as one.”

The falcon tucked her wings and plunged toward him. He held up a protected hand, the large brown glove a gift from Olvan. After arrowing down with blinding speed, Essix spread her wings at the last moment to slow her descent and alighted on his forearm.

“Good girl,” Rollan said, stroking her feathers. “Want to try the passive state? Want to become a mark on my arm?”

Rollan needed no comprehension of bird speech to recognize that her piercing cry meant absolutely not. Rollan gritted his teeth but kept petting her. “Come on, Essix. You don’t want us to look useless when the others get here. Let’s show them what we can do.”

The falcon cocked her head to stare at him with one amber eye. Her feathers ruffled up, but she made no further sound.

“Hey, it doesn’t just reflect on me,” Rollan said. “It makes you look bad too.”

Behind him, a horn sounded. Another horn answered. The Greencloaks at Sunset Tower liked to announce their comings and goings with horns.

“That probably means they’re here,” Rollan said.

Essix hopped to his shoulder.

Yesterday, Olvan had informed Rollan that two of the other three Fallen Beasts were on their way to Sunset Tower with their bonded partners. He explained that after they arrived, Rollan would learn more about what was needed from him. There was always one reason or another to delay a full explanation.

Rollan wondered if the other kids had already taken the Greencloak vows. Olvan said that the vows meant a lifetime commitment to defending Erdas and standing united with the other Greencloaks. In return, Rollan would receive help developing his relationship with Essix, he would be given duty and purpose, and he would never want for food, shelter, or fellowship.

Rollan wasn’t sure he bought it. The return of the Four Fallen was supposed to be a really big deal, but Olvan refused to say what they were actually meant to do. How long did Olvan expect him to wait?

Now that Essix had freed Rollan from a life of poverty, he questioned whether he wanted to tie himself down. He had never enjoyed taking orders. People with authority tended to abuse it. With Essix on his shoulder, who knew what options awaited? It was possible that joining the Greencloaks would prove to be his best opportunity, especially if he had become a target of people like Zerif. Then again, Rollan hadn’t had time to explore all of the alternatives. Instead of turning down Olvan, Rollan asked for time to think it over. That had been three days ago.