The sky broke open with a sound that did not belong to any world.
It was not thunder.
It was not an explosion.
It was the sound of something ancient snapping something that had held existence in place for longer than time could remember.
The chains shattered around the origin entity, fragments of glowing symbols bursting apart like collapsing constellations. Each broken link dissolved into drifting ash that evaporated before touching the ground.
And then
She fell.
The origin plunged from the rift in a slow, impossible descent, her silver-shadowed hair spreading around her like a torn halo. The void behind her howled, collapsing inward as if furious that its prisoner had slipped free.
“Elara!” Draven shouted, horror and disbelief tangling in his voice.
Elara hovered midair, still c
