As Zahra and Kael made their way down the hill, the evening air grew cooler, and the distant horizon began to melt into shades of deep purple and indigo. The stars slowly began to take their places in the sky, a familiar comfort in their steady, eternal glow. Yet, even as they walked side by side, Zahra could feel a tension building inside her—a tightening in her chest that she couldn’t quite explain.
The land before them was peaceful, but there was a deep undercurrent of unrest. The Veil had been broken, yes. The curse had been lifted. But even as the land began to heal, Zahra felt something was missing. A part of her, buried beneath the years of battle and pain, had been left behind in the Hollow. She had been so focused on surviving, on breaking the curse, that she hadn’t fully process
