Adora cut in firmly, her voice trembling with anger. "You're not a burden, Aurel! Listen to me carefully!" She came forward and sat beside Aurel, gripping her hand so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "You're very wrong if you think we don't care. Or that we'll abandon you just because you bring new life to a world that's already too dark."
Bella and Layla came closer, sitting around Aurel like a living fortress. Bella patted her shoulder gently, her voice trembling. "We all hurt, Aurel. We all have invisible wounds. But we also heal each other, right? Didn't we agree we would do that?"
Eric stood still, his hands clenched into fists. Finally he spoke, his voice low but steady like an anchor in a storm. "Maybe we can't erase everything that happened. Maybe we can't turn back time.
