Chapter 216: Breath and Reckoning
The muted cheer that had begun at the edges of the training ground swelled as Sophia pressed the attack. At first it felt like a ripple — an involuntary swell when someone sees something good — then it became a chorus. Voices rose: a sharp, delighted shout from Dren; a breathy, impressed whoop from Cat; even Micah, who rarely allowed himself public enthusiasm, let something like approval leave his mouth.
"Go, Soph!" someone called.
"Show him we can do it," Nia called out.
"You will be my second-best person in the world," Joren called out.
"Who's your first?" a trainee asked him, but before Joren could even reply, Dren, Cat, Nia and Laia answered, "Alpha Orion."
Orion turned his head, a ghost of an amused smile at the corner of his mouth. He kept his blade in motion, but his eyes found Sophia in the middle of the exchange, the way a hunter's gaze rests on the quarry that surprises him by darting and refusing to die. He let the moment stretch.
