It was only once the girl was in front of him that Zaeryn noticed. He blinked, pulling himself back from the haze of his thoughts like surfacing from deep water.
The hallway's sounds, the low murmur of conversations, the soft hiss of distant doors, the click of boots on the polished floor, echoed in his ears, suddenly sharp and present.
He'd been drifting, lost in the chaotic landscape of his new reality. Thoughts swirled: Sage's impending departure for the Aegis Division, the complex web of their evolving relationship, the daunting task of somehow convincing High Commander Lysara, a Tier-1 outlier who likely viewed him as a fascinating specimen to personally train him.
And then there was academy life. Right now his problem was Leia, the fiery Warlady in training he was already strategizing how to defeat her in their inevitable rematch.
Power, alliances, survival, the mental checklist was endless.
