Chapter 129: The Quiet Between Storms
The battlefield had grown quiet, unnaturally so. Ash still floated in the air like snow, and magical residue shimmered faintly across the cracked earth. The world had survived—barely—but the silence felt less like peace and more like a breath being held.
Liana stood at the center of what used to be the Council's stronghold. The place had collapsed in on itself after the final clash, leaving behind only fragments of marble and obsidian and something far more unsettling: a humming fissure in the ground that pulsed with remnants of ancient magic.
She didn't look away from it.
"It hasn't closed," Kael said quietly, coming up beside her. His tunic was torn, stained with ash and blood, but his eyes remained sharp, as always. "We drove back the Source, but that crack… it's still connected to something."
Liana nodded slowly. "I know. It's like the world is trying to heal, but the wound is too deep."
