At first, she heard only silence.
Not the silence of death, but that deep, pulsing stillness filled with presence. The world wasn't black. It was wrapped in grey shadows-soft, warm, yet tinglingly unfamiliar. Her body began to return slowly-but differently than before. As if every cell hummed a new melody. As if the blood, which no longer felt like her own, beat to an ancient rhythm within her.
Then she felt him.
Not through the bond.
Not through magic.
But deep inside. As if the axis of the entire world had spun once again around a single point: Dareth.
Elara's eyes opened.
There was no hunger. No madness. No darkness.
Only desire.
Her eyes were darker than before. Not black, not red-but something in between, a deep, glowing amber that seemed to burn with an inner light. Not for
