The world around Liora was a blur of sensations—heat, cold, pain, and power all crashing together in a chaotic storm. She lay on the cold forest floor, every part of her body trembling as the magic she had absorbed from the Heart of Thorns surged through her veins, threatening to consume her whole. It was overwhelming, a force too great to contain, too wild to control. Her breath came in ragged gasps, her vision swimming in and out of focus as the magic clawed at her insides, pulling her toward the edge of something dark and dangerous.
She had survived the transfer, but now she was faced with an even greater battle—mastering the power before it mastered her.
Liora pressed her hands against the damp earth, trying to ground herself, trying to find some anchor in the midst of the storm that
