Two days later, the professors were still recovering.
Yuria limped but insisted on walking. Seraphina had returned to the ice chamber for meditation. Lilith slept more than usual. Zephira refused treatment entirely, insisting she'd "bent worse blades in her sleep."
That left me and Valmira to pick up the pieces.
We went to the Northern Vault—a place Seraphina once said held the "opposite" of the shard.
The key was cold. The door was colder.
Inside, we found a mirror.
Not magical. Just... a mirror.
But what it showed wasn't us.
It showed me—sitting on a throne of glass. Alone. Professors gone. Academy in ruins.
Valmira stepped beside me. Her reflection, too, stood alone—book closed, unreadable.
"This is what happens if you survive, but don't lead," she whispered. "If you become what Kael became."
I reached out and shattered the mirror with my fist.
When I looked back, our reflections were gone.
And I felt better.
Even if my hand bled.