The day blurred past in a haze of drills and lectures. I couldn’t focus; every shadow around me felt like a threat. Every whisper behind me sounded like my name.

By evening, I slipped into the empty training hall, trying to burn the fear out of my body. The stone beneath my feet was cool, the air thick with the scent of sweat and steel.

I struck the target again and again until my arms shook, until my lungs burned, until I could almost drown out the echo of the note.

“Eden will forget your name.”

A voice broke through the silence. “You shouldn’t train alone this late.”

I turned...