Page 96 of The Shattered Rite
“Everyone seems to know what they’re doing,” she said softly.
Garic’s gaze flicked to her.
“Except me,” she admitted.
He didn’t hesitate. “You’re wrong.”
She blinked at that, glancing sideways, surprised.
“You’re walking the same path as the rest of us. Bleeding the same. Standing the same,” Garic said simply. “Doesn’t matter how you started. Only that you’re still here.”
For a moment, Eliryn had no answer. She just let those words settle in her chest, heavy and solid, like the kind of truth no one had ever given her before.
Then Garic turned slightly, eyes searching hers. “You still burning?”
She flexed her fingers slowly, letting the pendant warm against her collarbone, Vaeronth’s steady hum curling around her ribs like quiet armor. “Always.”
They clasped forearms once more, no longer strangers this time.
“You watch your back in the next one,” Garic said. His voice was steady, but his eyes were sharp. “I don’t think this lot will fight fair.”
Eliryn smirked faintly. “Neither do I.” A pause. “But I’ve got a dragon watching my back.”
Garic’s dry chuckle cracked like a stone settling in the hearth. “You make a fine legend come to life, Eliryn of Lirin’s Edge.”
She opened her mouth, searching for something clever, something sarcastic, something that would keep the moment light.
But nothing came.
She just stared at him, thrown off balance. She hadn't expected someone from the trials to show her this… kindness.
In the end, she only nodded, once, careful.
Garic turned away toward his waiting guard, solid and unyielding.
And Eliryn went straight toward the waiting figure at the edge of the hall.
Silas.
His posture straightened instinctively when she approached, his kind energy coiled behind a guard’s discipline.
His armor wasn't polished, it was dull at the edges, as if he’d worn it for years rather than days. But his face, soft-lined and alert, with warm brown eyes, brightened as soon as he saw her.
“Dragonrider,” he said, relief threading his voice. “I hoped you'd find your way.”
She blinked once, surprised. “You sound almost happy to have to be escorting me again.”
Silas gave a small shrug, almost sheepish. “Better than one of the outside posts.”
She tilted her head, the corner of her mouth quirking. “How honest of you, Silas.”
He offered a small smile, seemingly pleased that she remembered his name. A quiet thread of friendship passed between them, warm and unspoken.
As they walked side by side through the corridor leading back to the inner halls, Silas kept a respectful distance, but not a cold one.
“Did you stay with the steward earlier?” she asked.
Silas nodded. “Posted to him for the trial’s end. When he isn’t briefing the chosen, he has to remain guarded… He is one of the few that know details about the trials before they happen.”
