༺ Ariana's POV ༻
I stood in the middle of the chaos.
Staring at the inferno that had consumed the east wing of Silvercrest Hall.
Noah Ashbourne's dormitory room was unrecognizable now.
Swallowed entirely by flames that licked hungrily at the stone walls and sent plumes of thick smoke spiraling into the night sky.
Embers scattered like fireflies.
Rhe distant cries of guards and knights cutting through the pandemonium.
As they shouted for students to move to safer ground.
Yet, I couldn't move.
My feet were rooted to the earth as I stared at the devastation.
My mind drifting back to everything I thought I knew about Noah Ashbourne.
Noah Ashbourne.
The name itself carried an air of disdain wherever it was mentioned.
He was the Academy's top student in the second year.
A title that should have inspired respect, even admiration.
Instead, it was laced with bitterness and loathing.
