The drain kept moving in his head long after the staging hall emptied.
Lior clean at the bottom of it and Troy somewhere in the middle with a knight that wasn't his.
Soren went back to the room with his arm still wrapped and his shoulder still stiff and tried to put the bracket down for the night.
Selah was already asleep on her side of the cramped room.
Frost gone quiet on her skin.
Under the bed the wolf was a low dark weight on the floor tonight, which meant she was settled enough to let him be.
He had his hand half-unwrapped when the door opened.
Maren stood in it.
She did not come in like the system had sent her.
There was no DING.
"You took a hit today," she said.
"I took two."
"I saw the second one." She closed the door behind her, quiet, with a glance at the sleeping shape across the room. "On the shoulder but you let it land on purpose."
"It was the cheap way to win."
"I know." She stayed near the door, the fox ears were down. "That's not why I'm here."
