The sun climbed slow and blood-red above Stormrider’s ridge, as though it too bled for the fallen. The smell of iron and smoke clung to everything—the air, my clothes, even my skin. Warriors limped back through the gates, some carrying others, some silent from exhaustion. The night’s battle had been short but brutal, and the earth behind us bore scars that would not fade quickly.
I walked among them, numb, hands streaked with dirt and blood that wasn’t mine. Every face that turned toward me carried a s********e full of awe, others of fear. They had seen what I had done—seen the light that burst from my hands, the shockwave that sent enemies flying. I had saved lives. But I had also revealed too much.
“Aria.”
Selene’s voice broke through the fog. She met me at the gate, her armor unfaste
