People were already chanting, the same refrain: “Sunborn, Sunborn!” “No,” Luke said loudly, and the boys paused in the very act of pulling him onto their shoulders. He offered Serene a hand, courtly as if he were helping her into a carriage. “Serene was with me every step of the way. I did nothing she did not do as well, and better. Serene too.” Serene took his hand. Boys swarmed around her too, lifted them both up high into the air. Their shouts seemed to echo off the sky. Elliot was left to trail behind. As he did, he thought about Luke talking about literary tropes—the fearless hero, the
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