Nyx-hound

The moment Sylia barked out that we had three minutes to form teams, chaos erupted like a dam breaking. Bodies rushed in every direction, people shouting over one another, and a palpable sense of urgency swept through the training grounds.

My heart raced as I tried to make sense of the madness, my eyes darting around for familiar faces or at least someone who didn't seem like they were about to throw me under a bus in the coming challenge.

"Oi, Alyndra!" a voice yelled from somewhere in the fray. I turned to see Elana, the elegant yet no-nonsense woman I'd briefly spoken with before, waving me over. She was already assembling a team, her sharp gaze scanning the field like a general assessing the battlefield.

I bolted toward her, dodging two men arguing loudly about who should be team leader and a dwarf nearly tripping over his own hammer in his frantic rush to find teammates.