The sky above the academy didn't just darken; it shattered.
High above the spires, the shimmering, translucent barrier, the only thing standing between the students and the encroaching void, cracked like a dropped mirror. With a sound that vibrated in Liam's very marrow, the dome disintegrated into jagged shards of light before fading into nothingness.
'Finally,' Liam thought, his jaw tightening. 'The moment of chaos. If there's an opening, this is it.'
He didn't hesitate. Monsters, grotesque and starving, poured through the breach, a tide of claws and teeth descending upon the academy grounds. Liam sprinted. He didn't run toward the safety of the shelters; he ran toward the heart of the storm: the Director's office.
