The days after the revelation were heavy with silence.
Sophia drifted through the stone halls of Tharaleth like a ghost. The voices around her softened when she entered a room. Conversations stopped. Eyes lowered. Even Noah—so steady, so close—now hesitated when he reached for her hand.
She couldn't blame them.
Part of Kaelvar lived inside her.
She was the light and the shadow.
⸻
The council had kept the news hidden. Only the three of them—Noah, Naida, and Kaelun—knew the full truth. They urged her to continue training. To stay strong. But Sophia could feel the shift in the air.
She wasn't just the Guardian now.
She was a threat.
⸻
She spent hours in the catacombs beneath Tharaleth, staring at the reliefs etched into the walls. Ancient stories carved in stone—Guardians before her
