The fragment never rested.
Even in the rare moments of quiet that Shadowmoon Academy managed to steal between preparations, Elara could feel it a dark, insistent pressure behind her ribs, like a second heart beating out of rhythm with her own. It no longer whispered. It hungered. It reached for the rest of the Lunar Core inside her with a cold, possessive need that made her skin crawl and her silver light flicker unsteadily.
She stood alone in the lunar chamber once more, the vast circular space illuminated only by the narrow shaft of moonlight from above. The ancient runes on the walls glowed in response to her presence, pulsing softly as if they recognized the changed power that now lived within her. The heart of the silent moon was whole again, but scarred quieter, more introspective
