The morning began with an unsettling stillness. Ravenclaw house was eerily quiet, but Evelyn couldn't shake the feeling that the air was threatening. She had been used to that sort of feeling in recent days, the sense that Fji was lurking just out of sight, waiting to cause chaos. Therefore, when the messenger arrived, hot and panting, she knew the silence was precisely before the storm.
"Smoke," the young fighter said, breathing hard. "From the east. The hills are on fire."
The words hit like stones in a pool, striking each guard stationed around. Evelyn's rib cage tightened. She quickly got up from the courtyard steps where she had watched training. She already imagined what the messenger was reporting—parents screaming, houses burning, fire hurting innocent civilians. Fji had struck, not with subtle threats, but with naked destruction.
