With the battle over, the group continued their journey, and time quickly passed by. By dawn, the desert was still smoldering from the night before.
The dunes around the carriages had hardened into black glass from the inferno that began to pop up the closer and closer the group moved towards The Heartforge, and faint curls of smoke rose from the cracks.
The air shimmered with residual mana, the scent of scorched sand and ozone hanging heavy.
The convoy continued to move again at first light. The spectral horses trotted soundlessly, their eyes glowing faintly beneath the pale horizon. The carriages glided over the uneven terrain, the blue wards around their rims shimmering in rhythm with the steady pulse of magic.
Most of the students spent times doing their own things, Albedo continued his own training, while most of the others either slept out of exhaustion or chatted with the others, some asking Lilian about The Heartforge and what they should expect.
