Chapter 19 Chapter Nineteen

• Kael’s breath steamed in the hallaway as he squared his shoulders, facing Master Harond. The old mage’s eyes, once filled with the gentleness of a teacher, now glimmered with steel beneath his hood.
• “I don’t want to fight you,” Harond said quietly. “But I will if I must.”
• Kael clenched his fists, power pulsing beneath his skin like a second heartbeat. “You always told me the Hakana chooses its bearer. So why deny me now?”