"What pain?" Valens demanded but the oracle did nothing more than cry, tears steaming down her face faster.

I felt I knew what she was talking about but the more she cried, the more I doubted I understood this lady.

I'd been through hell and back in Redville. There were days when I did nothing but cry from the beginning of the day till the end. I'd gone days without food, been broken in every way a person could be broken. Mentally and emotionally, I'd been traumatized. There was little cause for living and I'd found no use for my life. On many days, I wanted out.

It was a...