Silence.
On the ground, two things were dissolving into the dirt: blood and tears.
The students were exhausted. Kaelen was leaning against the broken wall of a hut, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
Seraphina sat on the ground, her head in her hands.
Selvara, Orion, and Lyra were scattered, lying on the cold stone road, too tired to even speak.
Azrael stood tall.
He had taken every brutal hit, every painful vibration from the creature's attacks. But he was at his limit.
His body started to shake, his vision blurring at the edges. He was about to drop to the ground.
A pair of small arms wrapped around him, stopping his fall. It was Elvara. She was small, but she held him up, her own body trembling with the effort.
The last thing he remembered before he passed out was her face, full of a worry that looked surprisingly real.
Elvara looked around the broken street. A few villagers, who had been hiding in their cellars, were slowly coming out.
