We evacuated the Academy.
Students first. Then wounded. Then the last standing professors.
I walked last.
The walls whispered as I passed: thank you, goodbye, remember us.
The sky above was dim, flickering between realities.
I walked into the old chamber beneath the east wing, where it all started.
The First Flame waited there.
No longer bound to runes. No longer asking permission.
It was me.
I stepped forward.
And for the first time in my life, I didn’t cast a spell.
I just spoke a truth: "I’m ready."
The flame surged.
And the world shuddered.