Lira finally sat. Not near them. Not far. Just… adjacent. Like she wanted to be part of the room without asking for it.
No one said anything for a minute.
Then Ren broke the silence.
"You vaporized that guy."
"I did."
"Impressive."
"He earned it."
"Yeah. Fair."
Lindarion rubbed his eyes. The glow from the fire cast thin shadows across the table. They looked like cracks.
"How long until the next thing crawls out of the woods?" he asked.
"Not tonight," Lira said. "They're afraid."
That gave him pause.
"Afraid of what?"
She looked at him now.
Direct.
"You."
He blinked.
Frowned.
Didn't answer.
Didn't need to.
Ren kicked the edge of the bench with her boot. "Well. If monsters are scared of our resident eleven-year-old, I feel better."
"I'm almost twelve," Lindarion muttered.
"Wow. That'll scare them even more."
Ashwing growled lightly in agreement. Or indigestion. Hard to tell.
The fire popped once. A spark flared and vanished.
