Azaraan was by far the largest of human domains. The Empire of Sun—it was called since ancient times. Indeed, like a Sun, it shined to all humanity through its dark ages. But now, the old and mighty empire was decaying. The land of Azraan stretched far from the mountains of Khe on the west to the Winged Archipelago on the east, from the great Atarana on the north to the Sea of Beasts on the south. Although ruled by a supreme tsar, Azaraan was never a united country: the land was divided between dozens of lords and teheni clans. Some were loyal to the Sun Throne, and some only looking for opportunities to undermine it. And altogether, they were struggling for the land and the favor of the Kurmeshi family—the old and powerful dynasty controlling the Sun Throne for the last two thousand years, since the Age of Blue Ice. Respected by many and envied by all, Kurmeshi had too many enemies and only a few allies. It was vital for each of its subjects to know who were their friends and, even more importantly, who were their enemies.

What if these people were indeed sent here by the tsar? Shadow thought.

”Soldiers of tzar,” she gasped.

”Maybe not soldiers, mercenaries, who knows?” shrugged Gerome, looking at her with interest. ”But they are here to fulfill his will and catch the magical bird. If the tzar decides to have a phoenix, he must have it. You know, people say he trains magical creatures for war.”

”Phoenix is not a beast of war.” Shadow whispered more to herself than to hilistians. ”You can not train a bird to fight. They can’t capture it alive, anyway. It will burn them to ashes.”

”They must have some plan if they came here all the way from the capital. And, my dear child, who else, in the whole Empire of Sun, would dare to trespass your borders without warning? No one else but the tsar’s men.”

This seemed somewhat reasonable, but simply listening to this smart and gabby stranger could not make Shadow closer to knowing the truth. A plan came to her mind, bold and risky, but since it was the only thing she had, Shadow could not help herself from grasping onto it.

”Hey! Who is in charge of you? I need to speak to your commander!” she shouted to their guards.

On the second attempt, Shadow succeeded in attracting their attention.

“What do you want?” one of the guards called out.

”Tell your commander I could help him to get the phoenix!”

A dead silence followed her words. The guard slowly stood up and went around the rocks.

“What are you doing, my dear girl?” Gerome was first to come to his senses. His voice was filled with panic. “Are you serious? Do you want to help these people? Why?”

Even if she wanted to, Shadow could not explain it to a stranger.

”You could not imagine how much harm a phoenix could do in the wrong hands! Haven’t you heard how tsar Lushee uses the magical creatures? To kill people! He tortures men and women with blooming roots!”

“I’m grateful to you for saving my life,” said Shadow trying to keep calm. ”But this only concerns my clan and the Throne of the Sun.”

Gerome said no more, but the expression on his face spoke clearly about his thoughts.

While Belrigan explained what was going on to their third companion, Peto, who did not understand a word from foreign languages, several bandits came from the far side of the cave and surrounded Shadow. They all were well armed and wore dark-grey clothes that looked like uniforms, just like soldiers were supposed to. Their leader was a short man, one head below the others. With a dark beard and big plumpy nose, his face resembled the muzzle of a vailah (a large herd animal that roamed the Great Steppe). That half-dwarf reeking with a strong odor of smoking weed and alcohol loomed over the Shadow.

”Speak to me, teheni,” he said.

”My name is Gray Shadow, and I am the daughter of the head of the Crimson Alder clan. And who are you, who dare to come to our land and attack people who live here?”

A grimace appeared on the face of the bandit leader.

”I am a great warrior Nahad Hari, the Ray of the Sun, and the Sword of Heaven. I go whenever I want and take what I need to take in the name of the Sun. It’s not up to you to question me! Tell me, what did you say about the phoenix?”

Ray of the Sun. Shadow did hear that title of honor. It was granted to a messenger and a hand of the royal Kurmeshi family. Above all laws and all people, he was. But then he must have proof… Shadow looked at his belt and saw a sophisticated gilded grip of a dagger resting in a sheath. He speaks the truth.Owner of such a dagger could take any life under the Sun. Was it a commoner or a lord—it does not matter. No one could stop or judge the Ray of Light except the tsar.

”If you came here by order of the Sun Throne,” Shadow said as her voice trembled, ”you should know that Crimson Alder was always a loyal ally to the Kurmeshi family. Release all the prisoners, and I swear our clan will help you to kill the phoenix!”

”Kill?” Nahad Hari was enraged. ”We need it alive, stupid girl!”

One of the men standing behind him stepped forward. He looked different from other bandits. A long grayish robe hid his figure down to the leather boots. His brown hair was set into a short tail, while his face was covered with a mask that looked like those worn by the teheni theater dancers during their performance. The black mask had only small openings for the eyes and a short pointy nose resembling a beak. That disguise looked too extravagant for a person in a cave; despite it, Shadow felt something familiar in the stranger’s features.

The masked man leaned to Nahad Hari and whispered into his ear, almost touching him with the beak of his mask. Nahad Hari nodded.

”Listen, all of you,” the masked man raised his voice, addressing other prisoners. ”We are here to capture the phoenix in the name of the tsar Lushee. This must be done tonight. Any of you who agrees to climb the mountain and bring us the magical bird will be rewarded generously. If you refuse or fail us, we’ll take your lives and the lives of your families.”

The voice of the masked man matched his mysterious appearance. A smooth and melodic sound was flowing from his mouth like a song. By its soft timbre, Shadow could not tell if it was a young man or a woman behind the mask. He spoke calmly when threatening the shepherds as he was discussing the weather with them.

The villagers became pale at once. The oldest of their group started to beg to spare their lives, but he might better ask a mountain for mercy. While Nahad Hari began questioning the shepherds, the masked man approached the Shadow.

”You came here for the warrior’s Ascension, daughter of the Alder,” he said. ”But are you ready to become one?”

He spoke to Shadow in her mother tongue, and its fluency left no doubts that he was teheni himself. Shadow stared at him without answering. At first glance, the stranger looked somewhat familiar, but his voice… she had never heard it.

”My clan was always a faithful ally to the Sun’s Throne,” she repeated desperately. ”That is why you must release the prisoners, or else we consider you just bandits!”

”Bandits? Ha! You have a sharp tongue, Crimson Alder girl. Watch it well if you don’t want it to be cut. We need these people to show us the way up. Consider that they are now in the service of the tsar himself. It is essential to capture the phoenix as soon as possible. The will of the Sun must be fulfilled. You said you want to help, and there is a way to do so: find the phoenix’s nest and bring the bird to us—that will prove your allegiance.”

It appeared that her plan had a chance to succeed. But who was she trying to trick? Was she really going to help them or just run away if they released her?

”Villagers can’t catch the magical bird,” Shadow said.

”But can you? You must know a lot about magic beasts?”

”I do…”

”Then, how you got trapped by a stone pango?”

Shadow choked, swallowing the bitter truth.

”We could leave you dying out there,” continued the masked man. ”We could do it the way the Crimson Alder does with its allies. Your body would be cold by dawn. Torn apart by animals. But we saved you…”

”Actually, it was only thanks to my antidote that she was saved,” suddenly interrupted Gerome.

”How dare you open your mouth?!” in an instance the was nothing left of the masked man’s calm conduct. ”Your manners won’t ease your fate, hilistian spy!”

A few seconds passed after that sudden gush of anger, and he turned back to Shadow, again calm:

“There is no time for negotiation, daughter of Crimson Alder; either you climb up with us tonight or sit here with the traitors.”