Ashes Beneath the Pride
Deep inside the Secret Sword Summit right now
Heavy quiet filled the room like a weight. The air held still, thick and unmoving.
A stretch of space opened up inside, its walls made of pale stone that held onto silence instead of heat. Light from a swaying lamp crept down the edges, throwing jagged silhouettes - like fingers frozen mid-grip - over cracked flagstones. Smoke traces clung low, though they couldn't hide the snap of broken beams or the hush of disturbed grit rising between breaths.
Beside the bed, pieces of a shattered table rested in disarray.
Another one.
Destroyed.
On the bed, Shera slowly opened his eyes.
His breathing was uneven at first, chest rising and falling as if he had just climbed out of deep water. But the moment awareness returned—
So did everything else.
The memory.
The humiliation.
The laughter.
His face turned pale. Then darker.
Then twisted.
