Fall of Ruin and Wrath

Calista (Lis), a lowborn (mortal) of the kingdom of Caelum, wakes in the middle of the night in the orphanage where she lives. Her instinct tells her that something is wrong as the lamps around the room slowly go out, along with the fire in the hearth. Her only friend, Grady, wakes up beside her. He tells her that members of the Hyhborn, the immortal ruling class, have arrived. Lis expresses her fears that the Hyhborn are there for her. She has a gift she calls an “intuition” that allows her to hear the thoughts of others and read their futures when she touches them. However, Grady assures her that the Hyhborn have no way of knowing who or where she is.

Lis hears the orphanage’s head, whom they call “Mister,” talking to someone in the dark. He addresses this person as Lord Samriel. Lord Samriel instructs his Rae—“lowborn warriors” whose “souls [are] captured and held by the” Hyhborn (4)—to check all the children in their beds. Lord Samriel and another Hyhborn lord approach Lis’s bed, checking Grady while Lis hides under the covers. When she refuses to come out, a Rae pulls Grady from the bed and freezes his body.