Rain continued falling across the incomplete dimension, washing over corpses and blood-soaked mud, the chemical drops creating patterns in pools of mixed human and creature blood.
Thunder rumbled distantly, a constant reminder that this place rejected their existence.
Around one hundred seventy students sat scattered across the battlefield in various positions of meditation, their breathing synchronized unconsciously, all of them focused on the same desperate task.
Recovering Aura.
Refilling reserves that had been depleted to nothing during the battle, during the terror and during the desperate struggle to survive against overwhelming numbers.
The silence was profound.
It was not the oppressive quiet that had preceded the creature attack and not the stunned shock that followed Damian's demonstrations of power, but something approaching peace – the calm of people who'd accepted their situation and chosen to face it with determination rather than fear.
