Dainne Coilltear

Dainne is the sister of Cale Coilltear. Two years older than Cale, she's a journeyman blacksmith who works for Oretta Swinsun, a Dverren smith who makes the finest weapons in Beldane.   Like Cale, she grew up in the forests of west Casalonia. Like Cale, she knew tragedy in her early life, losing her mother when she was seven years old, her baby sister the following winter, and her father when she was eleven. Being older than Cale, she remembers these events with more clarity than him. The villagers coming to drag her ma away, shouting 'Death to the witch.' Her da's devastation at the loss of the baby. The terror and confusion surrounding her da's horrific death. The noises she heard - something huge crashing through the trees, smashing through the barn door, her brother's screams, and later, his helpless sobs.   Despite Cale's convictions, she has never believed their da's death was Cale's fault. Before their ma died, she had asked Dainne to look out for Cale, telling her that Cale had a powerful destiny. She had seen through a series of visions that he would lead armies against the Shadow. She told Dainne that she must believe in him because he would not believe in himself.   Dainne was the driving force in their flight across the desert to Beldane city. Cale had a fever for three days after their da died, burning up from the infected wounds scoring his cheek. Three slashes, like claw marks. Marked by the devil, the villagers claimed. Dainne overheard two of them talking - the goodwife who came to tend to Cale and her husband. The husband said the boy should burn like his ma, that it was his witchcraft that caused their father's death. The goodwife defended Cale, but Dainne had heard enough. She couldn't risk losing Cale too. As soon as Cale was able to walk, she dragged him from his bed one night while the goodwife slept. They set off on the long trek through the forest and across the Samaran desert, a journey that nearly killed them both.   But they survived. They made it to Beldane and found help from the children of the River Street Gang, and later from Oretta Swinsun and Inek Ban, who became unofficial guardians of Cale and Dainne. Fiercely independent, the Coilltear children would not accept charity. They fished and trapped or worked for their food, and lived in a mud shack in the Warrens.   Dainne trained alongside Cale in the Kepushay warrior arts of Kai-shin, under Inek Ban's instruction. Although not as obsessive as Cale, she is a damn fine warrior in her own right. She started training another girl who claimed to be a maid at the palace, but who turned out to be Elyse Harstrom, a princess and daughter of King Harad Harstrom. The two girls became friends, a powerful connection that will have consequences.   Dainne is as tough as nails. She's slow to trust and suspicious of strangers, but is fiercely loyal to her brother and those she counts as friends.   She's tall like her brother, a trait inherited from their Casalonian father. She shares her da's paler skin and honey-blonde hair, where Cale has their ma's black hair and dark copper skin.   She's a force to be reckoned with, a true friend, and a fearsome enemy. You have been warned!