Chapter 33 Flickers In The Dark

• The air was heavy with the scent of rain and smoke. The remnants of the storm still lingered on the horizon, dark clouds blotting out the stars, casting the world in an eerie twilight. Inside the Elemental Academy, the silence was deafening—broken only by the occasional crackle of magic or the distant murmur of voices as survivors gathered to assess the damage. But for Ava, the quiet was suffocating, like a vice tightening around her chest.
• She stood at the edge of the ruined courtyard, her eyes sweeping over the scorched earth and crumbling stone. The battle had left its mark on the Academy. What once stood as a proud symbol of unity between the elements now lay fractured, broken in more ways than one. Shattered statues of the Elemental Masters lined the courtyard, their faces marred by lightning strikes and fire. Water pooled in the deep cracks that spidered across the ground, mixing with ash and blood.
• Ava couldn’t shake the feeling that this destruction was a mere flicker of what was to come.