"Anna stood at the narrow window of a tower-dungeon, looking at the sky. Ever since the morning, it had been cloudless and blue, with white cloud sheep. Now the azure expanse was shrouded in smoke, and along it, again and again, ran uneven bright orange flashes—reflections of dragon fire. She couldn’t see the monsters themselves—the fighting was far beyond the castle walls—but Anna knew that the terrible creatures would appear soon…"