The cavern air was thick with smoke and silence. Ivy stood trembling at the edge of the chamber, the echoes of the flame still burning in her veins. Her skin, though untouched, felt raw with memory, every nerve remembering fire. The mark at her neck pulsed weakly, like a fading heartbeat, though each throb felt like a warning that the final chain was still alive.
Selra’s voice rumbled steady inside her, low as thunder and just as certain. Two chains broken. One remains. But this one will cut deepest.
Ivy drew a sharp breath and lifted her chin. The shadows seemed to lean closer, waiting, almost eager.
Before her, the elder reappeared, stepping out of the dim like he had been carved from the stone itself. His silver robe glowed faintly in the dying firelight, each thread gleaming as if i
