The days following the encounter with the Ancients felt like a dream, or maybe a nightmare that wouldn’t end. Every time I closed my eyes, I could still hear their eerie howls, still feel the dark pull of the curse wrapping itself around me. But life, as it often does, moved on. School was waiting, with its endless lectures, gossip, and cliques that felt so trivial compared to what I had just faced.
But as much as I wanted to forget it all, to pretend I was just another student sitting in a classroom, I couldn’t. Not with Adrian still lingering in my mind, his words echoing in my ears. And not with the strange energy in the air every time I walked through the school’s halls. It was like something was waiting for me, something I couldn’t quite explain.
I arrived at school that morning wit
