Chapter 220

*Elora*

They called it the quiet before the war.

But it didn’t feel quiet.

Not really.

The halls of the Aethel-Bulwark hummed with tension like a wire pulled too tight. Boots moved with urgency down corridors that had once been silent. Doors slammed. Chants echoed from the ritual rooms. Armor was sharpened and fitted, blades inspected. Food rations were being counted and spells rehearsed. Every co