CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Kyra swung her staff in every direction, slashing at branches all around her in the wood, while Alva sat at the far end of the clearing, very still in the grass, his back perfectly straight, watching. Beside him sat Leo and Andor, both, amazingly still, as if peaceful in his presence. Breathing hard, covered in sweat as the morning sun broke through the trees, Kyra spun and slashed as she had for hours, striking at branches, at imaginary foes, as Alva had instructed her to do, breaking branches, sending leaves flying, the c***k of her staff ringing throughout the wood. She ran from one tree to the next, feeling judged in Alva’s watchful eyes.
Kyra still didn’t know what to make of him. He seemed part human, part something else, and while he was boyish, he also had an an
