Lyla’s eyes snapped open.
Her first breath was shallow, filled with an energy so potent it nearly burned her lungs.
She wasn’t just waking up.
She was being reborn.
For a brief moment, she felt weightless, as though she no longer belonged to the world she had known.
Everything around her was different.
The air was thicker, charged with something primal, something alive.
The ground beneath her hummed, like the very earth had recognized her transformation.
And then
She realized she wasn’t alone.
The Marked Ones stood in a perfect circle around her, their silver eyes reflecting the eerie glow of the night.
But they weren’t watching her.
They were kneeling.
All of them.
Lyla pushed herself up slowly, her body steady yet unfamiliar.
She had always fought for respect, always battl
