Echoes of the Queen
The light faded slowly.
Silence settled over the sanctuary.
It wasn't a peaceful silence.
It was a silence of shock and disbelief.
Aria blinked, her vision blurry from tears and memories flooding her mind.
The Moonblade was still in her hand. It feels different now.
Warmer.
Alive.
Its silver edge pulsed gently like a heartbeat that matched her own.
"Where is he?" Vance whispered.
Everyone looked around the center of the room.
Magnus Thorne was gone.
Only his broken staff remained, split in half with black smoke rising from the cracked crystal. Damien approached it cautiously.
He crouched down. Touched the broken wood.
It was still warm.
"He didn't die, " Fenris said.
"No, " someone else agreed.
"He was judged, " Fenris explained.
Aria frowned.
"What
