Kora’s POV
The Vale burned.
The world that had glowed with silver light now screamed with black fire. Trees cracked like bones, rivers hissed into steam, and the sweet scent of the forest turned to smoke and blood. I couldn’t hear anything but the roar of power in my own ears — the pounding rhythm of fire and frost, both fighting to be freed.
Aaron stood in the center of the chaos, his blade drawn, the flames bending toward him like he was their master. He was the same man who had once sworn to protect me, and yet there was nothing human left in his eyes. The Council had hollowed him out and filled the emptiness with darkness.
“Do you even know what you are, Kora?” he called across the flames. “Do you think that thing inside you makes you better than us?”
I met his gaze, my chest heav
