~Nyla's POV~
“Start again.” he says again, his voice louder this time.
I lay there with my back pressed against the cold ground.
I don’t respond—not because I didn’t hear him, but because my body is still trying to pull itself back together. Every part aches deep into my bones, like I’ve been hit by a moving truck.
My chest keeps rising and falling, air coming in rough, and no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to slow it down.
The ground is hard beneath me, little particles of sand clinging to my skin, sticking to the back of my neck and hand.
“Have you gone deaf?” he barks, his voice cutting across the entire field, sharp making the others go still.
I turn my head slightly, just enough to look at him properly this time.
Up close… it’s worse.
His eyes stay on me, cold, like a
