( Aria's POV )
The storm broke at dawn.
Rain fell in a steady whisper over the ruins, washing blood and ash into the cracks of the temple floor. Smoke still curled from the shattered stones where Ronan’s power had touched the earth, leaving black veins that pulsed faintly before fading into silence.
Kael stood at the temple’s edge, shirt torn, shoulders slick with rain. The glow of the fight was gone from his eyes, replaced by something quieter, fear wrapped in fury.
Lyra moved carefully around the altar, tracing her fingers along the cracks. Her runes no longer glowed, whatever power had answered her before was spent. “He’s not gone,” she said finally. “He’s tethered, pulled back, but not destroyed.”
Kael’s jaw tightened. “Then we find him and finish it.”
She glanced up sharply. “Y
