Chapter 6
Kai’s POV
The training ground had changed.
The dust that hovered over the arena wasn’t just from the endless sparring. It was from something heavier—expectation, tension, a silent storm waiting to break. The children who fought earlier sat on the sidelines, bruised, breathless, or pretending not to cry.
Then she walked in.
She didn’t just enter. She arrived.
Shoulders straight. Chin up. Eyes sharp like steel polished too long.
Her name was Lyra.
I hadn’t heard of her before, but when she stepped into the circle, the way the air shifted made it obvious—everyone else had. Even Chris, who barely acknowledged the world around him, raised his head slightly, a flicker of interest passing through his gaze.
“She’s from Sector 7,” a boy next to me whispered. “I heard she trained
