Voices carry from the open arches of the Glass Towers as I land and take my human form —I’m not the only one to arrive early. Another friend from my core group, Jai, leans against the doorframe, his longbow strung across his back. He gives me a nod as I approach. There’s something bundled in his hands.

“Say all your goodbyes?” he asks, giving me a quick hug in support.

“As many as I need to,” I reply. “What’s that?”

“A gift from my little sister,” he replies cheerily, raising the small doll he has clutched in his hand. “I don’t think she understood what was happening. But she understood that I was leaving.” For a second, I catch him tightening his fingers around the doll. She could be the next one sick, I realize. I can practically see the thought as it winds and twists around my friend’s mind.

“Skies keep you, Jai,” I say. “Meet you back at the Warriors’ Hall. Last one back has to kiss Scholar Orr.”

A small smile. Scholar Orr is as infamous for his age as he is for his endlessly long lectures on Leonodai history. “You’re on, Cal. Thanks.”

I spot Sethran across the room and walk over to join him. Over his cobalt robes, Sethran wears a leather breastplate with the Leonodai insignia embroidered on it in gold thread to denote his status. Beside him, Ox sits on the ground with his back to the wall, hands resting on his knees.

“Is Jai okay?” Sethran asks, touching his fist to my shoulder in respect.

“About as okay as the rest of us, Commander,” I reply, returning the gesture. “Waiting on Exin?”

“And on the signal. We have time.” Sethran inclines his head at a group of sentinels at the center of the Tower near the thrones. Sentinel Lyreina pushes back her short dark hair as she goes over the map of Balmora with warrior Io, while sentinels Renna and Carrick make rounds among the warriors. There is an unusual slowness to Renna’s steps. As lead trainer of the warriors-elect, she’s known everyone by name for years. But it’s not the thought of fondness that makes me worry.

It’s the thought that maybe, in her mind, she’s saying goodbye.