Chapter 386 - Maria changes

The sky above that district of the imperial capital no longer resembled sky at all. It had darkened unnaturally, not with storm clouds rolling in from the horizon, but as if the color itself had been drained and replaced by something deeper, heavier, more oppressive. Winds howled in violent spirals, tearing through streets and slamming against shattered buildings, whipping cloaks and banners into frenzied motion. Dust and debris lifted from the ground and hovered briefly before being hurled away by invisible shockwaves radiating from a single point in the air. And at the center of that disturbance, suspended like a malignant star, was Maria.