KAEL
Mashik was pacing.
Even before Zane and I crossed the ridge back into the camp, I saw him. His dark silhouette moved like a caged beast, pacing the same small patch of ground outside the training yard. From that distance, I could already feel the tension radiating off him. Hands clenched at his sides, shoulders hunched like he carried something heavy. Torches flickered around him, throwing his sharp features into dramatic shadows, half man-half storm.
Zane noticed it too. “He doesn’t look thrilled.”
“That,” I said, narrowing my eyes, “is the look of someone who’s holding back a damn explosion.”
We approached slowly, careful not to spook the fire he seemed ready to unleash. Mashik didn’t wait. The moment he spotted us, he marched forward like thunder on legs.
“Easy,” I said. “You
