Lor watched Kiara storm ahead, her ponytail whipping like a battle flag behind her, her heels clicking sharply against the town road's uneven cobbles.
The academy's spires loomed in the distance, fading into the dusk, but they were well beyond its gates now—safely tucked into the winding paths of the surrounding town, where merchant carts rumbled by and the first evening lanterns flickered to life along the roadside.
He didn't follow.
Instead, he turned the other way, weaving back through the shadowed alleys that skirted the town's edge, his steps quiet against the dusk-soaked stones.
The sunlight had thinned, gold bleeding into deep amber, casting long shadows from the overhanging roofs of nearby shops.
The air carried the faint scent of baked bread and spiced ale from a tavern nearby, a hum of distant voices breaking the quiet.
He rounded the corner near an old stone fountain, water trickling softly—and stopped.