The uneasy truce between Sanctum of Mirrors and Obsidian Crescent allowed both schools to rebuild their routines. Classes resumed, practice sessions intensified, and the rivalry cooled, but tension lingered beneath the surface. The shattered crystal’s remains had been retrieved by the faculty and locked away in a heavily guarded vault beneath Sanctum, though whispers of its residual power circulated among the students.
Anna found herself waking up in the middle of the night more often than not, haunted by dreams of the shattered crystal reforming. One night, as she stared into the small mirror in her dormitory, she saw a flicker of movement behind her—a shadow that shouldn’t have been there.
“Anna?” Logan’s voice startled her as he entered the room.
She spun around, clutching her chest. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Logan said, narrowing his eyes. “Another nightmare?”
“It wasn’t a nightmare,” Anna said hesitantly, her gaze flickering back
