"All's fair in revenge and war."
--Fireborn Proverb  

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The blaze swept through my village of Halden as though the oceans of Hades had burst forth from the center of Paxus. The stench of burning hair and flesh made my stomach retch.

Gusts of air shrieked like wild animals as the resulting windstorm sucked screaming villagers towards the epicenter. Dense clouds of black smoke billowed from the wreckage of homes and farmland.

In a tidal wave of clanging metal and inhuman roars, the Dragonborn slaughtered any Militia who stood in their way. Blood infused the slushy mud as they pressed forward. Spells ricocheted off the enemy's armor and hit our own people, slashing their bodies or freezing them in place.

"I should be down there," I cried.

"No, Liselle!" Peter hissed, pulling me back from the cliff edge.

Twice the size of a large human male, the Dragonborn General approached the village square. Wrapping his giant talons around our flagpole, he ripped it out of the ground and snapped it over his thigh. After he'd torn the flag from the mast, he set it on fire before our eyes. The troops thrust an iron flagpole into the withered earth, and the General's wizards cemented it into place.

"Behold your new flag, Halden," the General roared. "Pledge your allegiance to the Gatál Empire, or you will perish."

A small muscle in Peter's jaw spasmed as his gray eyes narrowed with rage. His anger flowed into my receptors and burned like acid in my veins.

"I told you to join the Fireborn," he hissed as he sauntered towards me with his fists clenched. "You could have stopped this, Liselle."

"Peter, don't say that!"

"Why didn't you listen to me?" He pointed to an execution platform. "Now look what you've done."

I followed his line of sight and watched as the Dragonborn dragged Bragda to the platform. She writhed and struggled in a vain attempt to escape her impending fate.

"No!" I screamed. "Take me instead!"

Peter clamped his palm over my mouth. "Quiet! You can't save her now."

"Behold, your leader!" the General shouted at the cowering civilians. He turned to Bragda and hissed, "You should not have come back."

A Shadow Rider withdrew two broadswords and chopped off her head in one deft swing. Her head fell to the wooden platform with a sickening thud.

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My eyes flew open. "Bragda!" I screamed as I knocked over my inkwell.

"Fuck!" She jumped to her feet, knocking over her chair. "You scared the Hades out of me."

My heart pounded as I struggled to catch my breath. "Sorry, sis. I had another fisca."

"Damn, that's twice today already." Bragda felt my forehead. "Are you ill?"

"No, I'm fine."

Wandering over to the window, I stared at the blanket of crisp snow on the ground. Initiates were chucking snowballs at each other on the way to Winter Solstice parties at the nearby taverns. A part of me wanted to be normal like them. No fiscas, no visions.

"I know just the thing that'll take your mind off your bad visions," Bragda said. I jumped in surprise when she tossed a wooden food tray on my desk. "Here, that'll cheer ya up!"

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry."

"That, dear sis, is a sled."

"A sled?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes as though I were the daftest person on Paxus. "Look, you know that little hill near the dorms?"

"Yeah."

"Well, sit your ass on that thing, use your hands to get going, and whee!"

"Are you crazy?" I exclaimed. "I'll break my neck."

"Awww, c'mon, sis. Live a little." She changed her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Don't you want to impress what's-his-name?"

"I don't know who you mean," I said, blushing.

"You know, Peter."

"Bragda!"

"Don't tell me you didn't notice," she said with a snigger. "He likes you."

"We're not speaking," I admitted with a sigh. "We had a huge fight."

"Lovers always have fights." She wiggled her giant auburn eyebrows. "Stokes the flames for later."

"You're impossible!"

"Yeah, right. Just remember: all you have to do is get rid of your white ribbon and poof!" She extended her fingers like she was casting a magic spell. "You can have him."

"Don't even joke about that, Bragda. We're friends."

"Come on, don't pretend," she said with a mischevious grin. "Anyway, you haven't taken your oaths yet. That has to be a sign."

"If it wasn't for the attack--"

"The fact is you're still free." She tapped the food tray. "What'll it be, huh? If you go sledding with Mr. Hot in the snow--all romantic and shit--I'll eat my battle helm if he doesn't kiss you."

"Ugh, enough, sis," I growled. "I'm taking a bath."

"Mm-hmm, and think about Mr. Hot stoking your fire."

Shaking my head, I closed the bathroom door and began to run a bath. As I tipped scented oils into the tub, thoughts about Peter indeed raced through my head, but not the kind Bragda meant.

I'd be the first to admit that Peter was a great friend--the best after Bragda--but he was a Rogue at heart, and I was a celibate Sorceress. I had no business even thinking about another person in that way. Even if I weren't chaste, he supported the Defenders of the Flame, an organization run by Father, which had created a new race of demons.

And they want me next. May the fires of Hades take me first.

After my bath, I dressed in fresh Healing robes, and Bragda gave me a look. "Aww, man, really? Come on. Just one night of fun."

"Why is it such a big deal?" I asked, sighing in frustration. "You can go sledding with Peter, but right now I need to study. After my exam, we'll have two weeks together."

Bragda dropped her gaze, and I knew she was hiding something. My sister couldn't lie if her life depended on it.

"What?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

"Sis, I'm not joining you for the Solstice."

I sighed in irritation. "What do you mean?"

"I'm..." Her voice choked. "I've..."

"Are you spending it with Kaylar?" A smile spread across my face. "That's why you want to set me up with Peter. You feel guilty about leaving me alone during my first winter break away from home."

"It's not about Kaylar."

"What is it then?"

"I'm joining the Halden Militia."

My jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

"Haven't you heard about the Gatál annexing Dahlen? Or has your head been stuck in a book all week?"

"You're joining when we're on the brink of war?" I asked, incredulous. "Why?"

The truth was that I couldn't put the images of marching Gatál and Dragonborn out of my head. If Bragda signed up for the militia and the enemy attacked, she'd be caught in the crossfire.

A pang of guilt made my stomach clench. Peter forbade me from telling anyone, but surely I can make an exception?

"Studying just ain't for me, sis," she said with a shrug. "I kick ass at combat training, but I'm flunking the theoretical part. It's time to serve my country the best way I know how."

"Listen, you can't go," I insisted. "What if my visions aren't fiscas?"

"You always have nightmares." Her auburn beard swung in protest. "They never come true. Your worst fears are just coming through your dreams."

"I had no idea you were joining the militia, and yet I just dreamed you were fighting for them." My body began to tremble. "The firestorm starts, the Dragonborn come, and they kill everyone."

"You're just saying this to keep me from going."

"I wouldn't joke about something that important."

"If Halden really is in that kind of danger, I definitely have to go. If it isn't, it doesn't matter if I go."

"No, Bragda!" I swallowed the lump in my throat. "They execute you, too."

"If you know so much, when is it going to happen?"

"Soon."

"Not helpful."

"I always see blood-soaked mud covered in ice, so it will happen this winter."

"Why haven't you told the authorities?" she retorted.

"They don't accept fiscas as evidence."

"Right. Because they aren't real."

I heaved a frustrated sigh. "When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"What?" I exclaimed. "When were you going to tell me?"

Bragda stared at her feet and didn't reply at first. "You could come with me and heal the wounded. We could use a talented person like you on the battlefield."

"I heal broken ankles and busted ribs from tavern fights, not oozing wounds and fourth-degree burns from raging firedrakes!"

"Either stand beside me as a Healer or let me go without a fuss."

"Why do you insist on running off like a lamb to the slaughter?"

"You're crazy," Bragda shouted, pointing at her forehead. "The visions won't happen if we stop them first. Don't you get it?"

"The Ministry decided not to..."

"Fuck the Ministry!" Bragda began to shove her weapons, armor, and spare clothes into a bag. "My oath is to protect our home, and that's what my comrades are going to do."

"Where in Hades are you going?"

"I'm staying with my real friends who support me, not with my stupid sister who can't even tell reality from fiction."

"Bragda, you're raging," I said as I ran a desperate hand through my hair. "You don't know what you're saying."

"I'm sick of you manipulating me," she shouted. "It's always about you, isn't it? What about Halden--your people? Where's your patriotism?"

"That's not fair. I am patriotic."

"You're a coward."

"How dare you? I'm not a coward. I'm a pacifist."

"Same thing!"

"You take that back right now!"

"I'm ashamed of you, Liselle," she said, getting up in my face. "Almost all of the Risa want to protect Halden."

"It's a suicide mission." I cupped my forehead in my palm. "Please don't go."

If only I could tell her what I know.

I grasped my sister by the arm, and she directed her sapphire glare at me. "I'm scared you're going to get hurt, Bragda. You're the only family I have left."

She threw a parchment newspaper on my desk and pointed at the headline. "The Gatál have marched to fifty miles outside of Halden. But you don't give a fuck, do you?"

"I do care! I've seen what's to come."

"No, you've seen what happens when good people do nothing," she growled.

Without another word, Bragda slung her bag over her shoulder and marched towards the exit. Desperate to make amends, I ran out into the hall after her.

"Come on, sis," I cried, "you know that's not true!"

She flung the door open, leaving me with a horrible pit in my stomach.