[A/N: It's getting colder out here, and I'm feeling bit unwell, so excuse me for missed chapters]
When the headmaster arrived at the courtyard, the scene before her was one of utter destruction.
Deep cracks spider webbed across the stone ground, some wide enough to swallow a man's foot. Pillars that once stood tall and proud now lay in crumbled heaps, their jagged remnants jutting like broken bones.
The air was thick with dust, carrying the acrid tang of scorched earth and the faint metallic scent of blood.
Scattered around the courtyard were the elders and even the high elder, their robes tattered and stained with dirt.
Their faces, pale and drawn, bore expressions of exhaustion and disbelief as they struggled to catch their breath.
Some leaned heavily on fragments of debris, while others sat slumped, clutching at bruised ribs or trembling limbs.
