Elena
*****Ruins of a Fallen Kingdom*****
The fire should have felt like victory.
It didn’t.
Ash drifted through the air like black snow, settling on broken stone and lifeless bodies. The screams were gone now. Too quiet. Too final. Finn was pressed against my side, shaking but alive. Fia clung to my neck, her small fingers digging into my skin as if she was afraid I might disappear.
I didn’t blame her.
I felt hollow.
Behind us, the kingdom continued to burn, towers collapsing in slow, distant thunder. The bond with my children pulsed steadily again, no longer screaming in pain, but something else was wrong.
Very wrong.
Lucian stood a few steps away, surveying the destruction like he’d expected nothing less. Blood streaked his arms and armor. Not his blood. Never his.
Chase linge
