The stillness didn’t last.
It never did.
Elara felt it first—not as pain, not even as pressure, but as absence. A hollow where resistance had been. The sudden quiet after a scream. The bond had spread, yes—but whatever had been pulling against it hadn’t vanished. It had let go.
That was worse.
The circle dimmed from gold to a low, steady glow. The stones no longer hummed with strain, only presence. Around Elara, the believers stood uncertainly, breath fogging in the cooling air as the rain thinned to a whisper. No one spoke. No one moved.
Rachel broke the silence. “We need to leave. Now.”
Elara nodded. Her legs felt weak, her body heavy, like she’d just run for miles with a weight strapped to her spine. The power was still there—steady, distributed—but using it had taken something ph
