Chapter 50: Siege of Nazaria
The forest was burning.
We knew something was wrong the moment we emerged from the Veilroot tunnels — before the wind even carried the scent of ash, before the horizon glowed a sickly crimson. The canopy ahead was aflame, tongues of fire licking skyward like the hands of a dying god. The peaceful emerald expanse of Sylveraine — Santina’s homeland — was now a battlefield.
“By the stars…” Ruby whispered, voice trembling. “They’ve already begun.”
Headmistress Aragona was the first to move. “Form up!” she commanded, her voice cutting through the rising panic. “We’re not too late. Nazaria still stands — and while it does, we fight.”
We crested the ridge, and the scene below made my blood run cold.
Siege towers taller than trees rolled through the undergrowth,
