The moon climbed high above the peaks, casting long, skeletal shadows across the courtyard of the ruins. Elara remained motionless on the throne, her skin pale against the dark, unyielding stone. The rings, once conduits of celestial power, lay like discarded trinkets in her lap. They were no longer pulsing with the rhythm of the universe, and in that cessation of power, Elara felt the true magnitude of her isolation.
Are you truly gone? Elara whispered to the wind.
The ruins did not answer. The only sound was the distant, muffled pulse of the city below, a heartbeat she no longer felt connected to. Without the guiding whispers of Lyra and Malphas, the world felt dangerously quiet. For the first time, she understood that their presence had not just been a warning system; it had been th
