Chapter 63: Prelude to the Dawn
The war room was silent.
The great table at its center — once cluttered with maps, runes, and battle plans — now bore only a single item: my mother’s diary. It sat closed, its weathered leather cover worn by years and by fate. Around it, the faces I had come to trust more than my own reflection stared back at me: Ruby, Santina, Thaddeus, Gaia… and Headmistress Aragona at the far end, hands folded in front of her.
They all knew why we were here.
They just didn’t know what I was about to say.
I took a breath. “I found a way to end this.”
That alone was enough to break the silence. Chairs scraped back. Eyes widened. Even Ruby — who had always been the first to fill silence with sarcasm — said nothing.
“It’s in here,” I continued, placing a hand on the di
