Chapter 136

Chapter 136 SERAPHINA The air outside the facility still carried the acrid tang of burnt circuits and discharged magic. My lungs felt raw from smoke and strain, but it wasn’t the physical exhaustion that weighed on me—it was the sight of the Guardians we had pulled from their cages. Some stumbled like sleepwalkers, their eyes unfocused, their souls bruised from months of sedation and forced separation. Others clung to one another with trembling desperation, as if afraid they might vanish if they let go. And then there were the hollow ones—the Guardians who blinked at me with eyes that reflected no spark of awareness, their bonds stripped so violently that it left only silence where connection should have been. My flames had burned their sedation away, but no fire could restore what had been stolen. They’ll need time, I told myself, though the thought carried little comfort. Time… and something stronger than time. Ruvan moved ahead of me, precise as ever, guiding the more lucid Guardian