MAETHYS POV
Valik told me to stay with him.
I tried.
I swear I tried.
The fire was too loud. The smoke too thick. People were shouting from every direction, but none of the words made sense. Bodies moved around me, too fast to follow. Wolves. People. Shadows with hands raised like they could command the world itself.
Valik was the only solid thing.
His hand on my neck.
His voice in my ears.
Stay with me.
So I did.
Until he moved.
Only a few steps.
Only long enough to stop the man with ice in his hands.
I watched the attacker hit the ground with impossible force, watched Valik move like violence had been carved into his bones.
Then something grabbed me.
A fist twisted in my shirt and yanked me backward.
My feet slipped.
I screamed.
Valik turned.
Our eyes met through the s
