THE MARK BEGINS
Elara woke before dawn.
For a moment, she didn’t move. She lay still beneath the heavy warmth of the blankets, listening to the quiet hum of the world before morning. The air held that soft, fragile silence that only existed right before the sun rose — when even the forest seemed unsure whether to breathe.
Kael was no longer beside her.
The space at her back was cool.
Her chest tightened instinctively.
She pushed herself up, brushing sleep from her eyes. The dream clung to her like fog — the eclipse, the battlefield, the word claimed echoing over and over until it felt carved into bone.
You will be given power enough to save him.
But it will mark him.
She swallowed hard.
From the window, she could see faint light beginning to stretch across the horizon. Pale gold
