Today was unlike any other mission. I thought I had VinaLoot in my grasp, but that mischievous little glyph had other plans. One wrong roll of the die, and chaos erupted—he conjured a bomb that nearly took us all out. I rolled just in time, Zena too, but Luna froze. And in that instant, Meerno jumped without hesitation, shielding her from the full force of the explosion. Watching him take the hit broke something inside me. Dust and debris filled the air, choking us, blurring everything, and I realized how close we had come to losing him.

I knew Meerno wasn’t dead—just badly hurt—so I handed Luna a green heal glyphid and guided her through its use. It was the longest, most tense moments of my life, waiting for the glyphid to pull him inside and begin the healing process. Four days he would need to recover, but saving his life felt like the o ...