Riven froze. The words replayed in his mind, over and over, refusing to settle into something comprehensible.
Silence stretched between them, thick and heavy.
"Seventh…" he finally echoed, his voice quieter than before. His throat felt dry. "You're a seventh-circle mage?"
Nyx grinned. "Yep!" she said with an almost casual air, as if she hadn't just shattered his entire understanding of their power scale. "Krux, Mal, and I are all at the Seventh Circle. Damon and Aria are at the Sixth."
Riven exhaled slowly, his vision swaying slightly as the weight of that knowledge crashed down on him like an avalanche. He moved to sit on a nearby stone bench, gripping the edge as he stared at Nyx—seeing her in an entirely new light.
