The Heartbeat of Hope
The air inside the ancient caves, once thick with the stench of sickness and despair, now hummed with a different kind of energy. It was a tangible vibration, born of the Obsidian Heart’s steady pulse and the pure, resonant thrum of the mate bond between Kieran and Lyra. The scent of damp earth and pine needles still permeated the cavern, but the cloying sweetness of decaying blood was slowly, mercifully, fading, replaced by the faint, metallic tang of healing essence. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the caves felt less like a tomb and more like a womb, nurturing life back from the brink.
Kieran held Lyra close, her body a comforting weight against his. Hours had bled into the dawn, then into the murky light of early morning that filtered through t
