e rising sun was staining the Avery River with gold as the cloaked man strode onto a rickety dock in the slums. Fishermen were heading out for the day, revelers were stumbling in for the night, and Rifthold was still asleep—unaware of what had happened the night before.
e man pulled out a lovely blade, its eagle pommel glinting in the rst light of dawn. For a long moment, he stared at the sword, thinking of all that it had once embodied. But there was a new sword at his side—an ancient king’s blade, from a time when good men had served noble rulers and the world had prospered for it.
He would see that world reborn, even if it took his last breath. Even if he had no name now, no position or title save Oath-Breaker, Traitor, Liar.
No one noticed when the sword was jettisoned over the river, its pommel catching the sun and burning like golden re, a ash of light before it was swallowed by the dark water, never to be seen again.
