In the moments before the Imperial Court turned its attacks toward the escaping women and children, farewells were still being forced upon those who refused to leave. Even Arvid felt that the day of his redemption had finally come.
He looked toward Freya, who was desperately forcing her way through the men blocking her path, trying to return to the formation gathering outside the gates. Blue lightning flickered wildly around her body, forcing several warriors to struggle just to hold her back as the Imperial Court army continued rushing closer.
Arvid remembered when Freya had still been a young girl, chasing her dreams with a fire that no one in the Thunder Dragon Clan could suppress. She had wanted to become the strongest female general in their history, and every time she spoke of the future, thunder would rumble within her young heart as if the heavens themselves shared her excitement.
