The Burden of Hope

Valerie’s POV

When I opened my eyes, it wasn’t the prison walls I saw. The air around me was thick with smoke, and the ground shook under my feet like the earth itself was in pain. The sky was ripped apart with fire and shadow, clashing and twisting into shapes that screamed across the horizon. The sounds came all at once—steel against steel, cries of men and women who had already given more blood