Chapter 252 - A letter, full of problems.

The following day dawned with a pale light streaming through the broken windows of the mansion, scattering light over the scars left by the previous night and revealing with ruthless honesty what fire, ice, and loss of control had done. The air still carried the faint scent of cracked stone and burnt wood, mingled with the cold coolness that insisted on remaining ingrained in the surfaces where Damon had lost control. He had been awake for hours when the sun finally rose on the horizon, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his forearms as he removed, with firm and concentrated movements, the last layers of ice encrusted on the columns of the main hall. There was something almost methodical in the way he worked, as if each fragment that crumbled beneath his fingers was a silent attempt to compensate for the damage he had caused.