The cave felt smaller after the ambush. Four empty bedrolls. Four faces I kept seeing every time I closed my eyes. Renn’s betrayal sat in my gut like spoiled meat. I couldn’t fix it, couldn’t take it back. So I did the only thing that made sense I trained like I was trying to punish myself.Dawn to dusk, I pushed. Ran the ravine trails until my bad leg screamed and gave out. Sparred with Garrick until his hammer left bruises I could feel in my bones. Mira drilled me on silent movement, Lirael on poisons and shadows. I took it all. No complaints. The headaches got worse, but I welcomed the pain. It drowned out the guilt for a few hours.“You’re gonna break before you get better,” Mira muttered one evening as I collapsed after another session, chest heaving.“Maybe that’s the point,” I rasped.Garrick just snorted. “At least you’re finally acting like you’ve got sense. Still think you’re too soft, but at least you’re sharpening the edges.”Lirael watched me closest. She didn’t say much,