I looked up at Thaddeus. Mud crusted in my hair. Blood dripped from my palms onto Lycian’s shirt. Everything hurt.
“What one more thing?” My voice came out hoarse. Raw from smoke and screaming.
Thaddeus walked closer. His shoes were polished. Clean. Everything I wasn’t. He looked down at me with an expression I couldn’t read.
“Stand up.”
Lycian helped me. My legs shook. My twisted ankle barely held my weight. But I stood.
“The physical trial tests endurance,” Thaddeus said. “But it also tests something else. Character. How you handle failure. How you treat others when you’re suffering.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You failed the time requirement. By thirty-seven minutes.” He circled me slowly. Assessing. “But you also went back when you fell. Restarted obstacles instead of skipping them.
