As Victor approached me, a smile of triumph on his face, my grandmother Kaela—the chief of this Amazon village—stepped forward, her eyes keenly watching me. Her towering presence cast a shadow over us, her gaze intense and assessing.
"Lyra," she called, her deep voice carrying easily across the clearing. I looked up at her, my own expression shifting from pride to anticipation. There was something in her gaze, a challenge that seemed to burn beneath the surface.