Exhaling a lungful of stale air, Rodi watched the city wall draw ever closer and couldn't help tightening her grip on her sword.
At last, she had reached the final step-and the hardest one.
Once she crossed that towering, sturdy wall, she would gain freedom in the truest sense. No more being toyed with and restrained like a clown, no more confinement on Lake Island, living day after day like a prisoner...
The Moon Elf nestled beside her seemed to sense Rodi's anxiety. She pressed her head against Rodi's chest and nuzzled her gently, tender yet resolute.
Luna could neither speak nor hear a sound, but she always found her own way to sense the changes in Rodi's emotions.
It was as though an invisible bond existed between them, linking their hearts.
Rodi drew a deep breath, lowered her head, and kissed Luna's forehead. The Moon Elf's skin was cool and smooth, carrying a faint, elusive fragrance of leaves and grass.
Yes, this wasn't just for herself. It was for Luna, too.
As they drew closer to the agreed meeting place, Rodi's thoughts drifted back to when they first met.
Five years earlier, a slave had been sent to Lake Island to be "raised," following a routine that had persisted for a century.
The island at the center of Lake Tonnigat was small. Apart from the stinking Rothé, its only inhabitants were hairy, dim-witted Bugbears.
Those crude creatures couldn't even properly understand the Drow's most basic commands. They merely stared at people with their small, murky eyes, drool dripping from their mouths.
At first, then, Rodi Nightbrize, the nominal overseer of her family's ranch, paid little attention to the new slave. She could simply leave the work to those few "Beast Tamers," then come and "play" with them once