Chapter 204 - Shadows Within

The village lay in shambles, a place that once held life and laughter now bathed in the grotesque afterglow of destruction. Houses smoldered, debris scattered like broken memories, while the air vibrated with an eerie silence punctuated by distant cries. Ava's body lay motionless in the middle of it all, her pale skin illuminated by the flickering flames around her. Lucas knelt by her side, shielding her limp form with his own body, his face a mask of desperation. Every breath he took was labored, as if the air itself had turned to poison, thick with the stench of smoke and death.