Elena
*****Dawn — The Valley After the Eclipse*****
The battlefield smelled wrong.
Not like victory.
Not like loss.
Like something torn open and left to bleed.
The sky had returned to its normal gray-blue, but the land hadn’t recovered. Cracked earth stretched for miles, blackened veins running through stone like scars that would never fully fade. Bodies were being moved quietly now. No cheers. No celebration. Just shock.
And Chase.
Chase lay on a bed of cloaks near the remains of a fallen pillar, completely still except for the faint rise and fall of his chest. His skin looked too pale.
Too human.
That word made my stomach twist.
Human.
I knelt beside him, knees sinking into cold dirt, my hands hovering uselessly over his chest like if I touched him too hard, he might shatter
