Chapter 32 – Shadows at Dawn
The morning came with a cruel brightness, its gold and crimson spilling over Moonshadow Ridge as though to mock the battle that had scarred the night. Lila stirred awake against the stone wall of the sanctuary, the scent of smoke and scorched magic still lingering in the air. Her limbs were heavy, her soul heavier.
Beside her, Damian was already awake. He sat on a fragment of broken column, sharpening his blade with the patient rhythm of a man who knew every fight was borrowed time. The light caught his profile—strong, steady, unyielding. He looked like a man carved from steel, but his eyes betrayed the weight of what they had survived.
Lila pushed herself upright, wincing as soreness rippled through her body. Her magic had burned hot and wild the night befo
