The silence after the storm was deafening.
The once roaring lake now lay still, its surface reflecting only fractured pieces of the pale sky. The monstrous serpent that had risen like a god from its depths was gone — erased from existence, as though it had never been. The only proof of its existence was the thick scent of iron that still lingered in the air and the faint ripples that slowly calmed into glass.
Avin could still hear the echo of its final roar reverberating inside his skull.Every beat of his heart replayed it. Every breath dragged that sound back up from the edge of memory. His body trembled; his arm — the broken one — screamed with pain every time he shifted. His entire being felt like it was stitched together by will alone. He looked over the ruined lake, half expecting the beast to resurface, but the still water reflected only his battered reflection and the crimson-stained sky.
Then he saw her.
