[Reminder: novel is editing. Not recommended to read]
At the top of the stairs, the wind hit her like a wall—sharp, chill, and charged with something ancient. Verena squinted into the sudden brightness. Gone were the cold, star-lit corridors of the labyrinth. Now, she stood atop a wide plateau of marble and glass, floating high above the academy's skyline. The sky bled pink and gold, constellations still faintly etched in the clouds like ripples of memory.
The Trial of Ascendance was over.
The moment should've felt like a victory. Instead, she felt… hollow.
Saphira coiled loosely around her arm, unusually quiet. No sarcastic remarks. No cheeky flirting. The snake felt it too—the unease, the strange static clinging to the air like an unfinished sentence.
A bell tolled below. One, then two, then twelve. The academy was announcing their return.
