The academy was quieter than Lira had ever heard it. With the year officially ended, the grand halls and practice grounds stood nearly empty, holding only the echoes of laughter that had passed through them in brighter days. The library, however, still breathed with its own life. Its towering shelves and endless corridors carried a hush that seemed to pull her in.
She stepped through the doors, their hinges groaning softly, as if the building itself knew who entered. The familiar scent of parchment, ink, and a faint trace of dried herbs wrapped around her. Rays of late sunlight streamed through stained-glass windows, painting the rows of books in shifting colors. Dust motes drifted lazily, catching light like fireflies trapped in amber.
The library was her ocasional small sanctuary. During the year she had come here for assignments, late-night reading, even quiet moments when she needed to breathe. But now, with so many students gone, it felt… different. Larger. Wilder.
