Chapter 64 Stalemate

• Ava
• The council chamber felt stifling, the heavy oak table and dim lighting only serving to amplify the tension simmering between us all. For hours now, the eight of us had been locked in heated debate over the three finalists, our tempers slowly fraying the longer we failed to reach a consensus.
• “I believe that Dedrick displayed incredible strength, cunning, and leadership today,” Elder Fatima insisted, her voice rising over the others. “His team absolutely decimated the others during that final chess match.”