C26 CHAPTER 26: SMALL VICTORY; NEW UNDERSTANDING OF POWER

The platform felt different once the danger had passed.

The air was still, but not calm. It carried the echo of what had nearly gone wrong—and what had somehow gone right.

Lyria stood near the edge of the market platform, hands resting on the rail as she stared into the endless sky below. The clouds rolled slowly, indifferent to fear or triumph