Lyra’s POVThe Academy was falling apart around us. Stone crashed endlessly through the lower sectors while ancient wardlines burned themselves out across the fractured walls in showers of silver sparks. Smoke rolled through the chamber in heavy waves, mixing with dust and shadow until the entire ruin felt submerged in darkness. But nobody was looking at the destruction anymore. They were looking below. At the thing moving beneath the shattered foundations.Another section of the chamber floor collapsed inward with a deafening roar, exposing a massive abyss beneath the Academy ruins. Ancient stairways spiraled downward through the darkness, carved into black stone far older than the school itself. And deep below—silver eyes stared back.My pulse hammered violently. The entity’s presence flooded every corner of my mind now, no longer distant or sleeping. It pressed against my thoughts with impossible weight, ancient emotions bleeding through the connection whether I wanted them or not.
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