The next day, the Conclave branded me a heretic.
Declared war on the Academy.
All professors were stripped of their authority. The Heart Shard’s destruction triggered ancient failsafes: cursed weapons, sealed spells, summoned hunters.
I didn’t run.
Neither did the others.
Seraphina rallied the outer houses. Yuria organized rebel students. Valmira began rewriting the Codex by hand. Zephira stood at the gate with a blade in each hand. Lilith gathered forbidden tomes from the vault.
And I stood in the courtyard, looking up at the banners they dropped from the spires.
They read:"Long live the Architect. Long live Ruin."
We weren’t a school anymore.
We were a revolution.