Page 290 of Elemental Becoming

“You never mentioned a ledger.”

“Because until this morning, I wasn’t convinced it existed.”

He taps the page.

“Veyne mentions it three separate times. And in every reference, he writes about it as though it was his final safeguard. The one thing the Fire Clan could never be allowed to find.”

For a moment, all I hear is the pounding of my own heart. Then I ask the question that has already begun forming in my mind.

“Do we know where it is?”

Valen lifts another page and turns it toward me. “This was in his final notes. Read the last line.”

I scan the handwriting, my pulse thrumming.

“They still believe in honor. They still believe in truth. If there is hope, it lies with the wind.”

I stop breathing.

The wind.

For a moment, I simply stare at the words. Then realization clicks into place.

A memory surfaces, unbidden, sharp and vivid.

Thane’s voice.

You need to learn how to shield your mind, Amara.

His eyes holding mine as he waited for my answer.

What do you think of when you think of safety?

I answered without hesitation.

The wind.

Because it was freedom. Strength. The feeling of Calryx’s wings beneath me. The force that carried me forward when everything else threatened to drag me under.

“The Air Clan,” I whisper.

Valen nods. “I believe the ledger was never destroyed. I think Veyne entrusted it to the Air Clan.”

I sit back. For generations, the truth about the Shadow Wars has been buried under Fire Clan propaganda. But it wasn’t lost. It was hidden.

And now we’re standing at the edge of the trail that leads to it.

QUIET MOMENTS

FORTY

I stopped by the children’s school today. They were playing ‘battle’, pretending to ride dragons and take down shadow forces. For a moment, I wanted to stop them, turn their imaginations toward discovery rather than conquest. I pray to the gods they only ever have to ‘play’ battle. That their lives are spent raising homes, exploring, learning, and crafting wonders rather than counting the dead.

—VALEN’S JOURNAL

AMARA

The first thing I see when I wake is him.