The winds of change were no longer a distant threat; they were here, in the heart of everything Elara had fought to protect. The Void, once a malevolent force, now hummed in her veins like a living thing, no longer an enemy but a reluctant ally. It was a strange, dissonant harmony, one that brought both power and an unsettling sense of foreboding. The battle had ended, but the war was far from over.
Aiden stood at her side, his presence a silent reassurance in the aftermath of Seraphina's fall. She had given everything to control the Void, and yet the tension in her chest refused to ease. The world outside had calmed, the storms subsiding, the earth itself beginning to heal from the scars left by their conflict. But within Elara, the storm raged on, twisting and turning, a constant reminder of the price she had paid.
"Elara," Aiden's voice was soft, but it cut through her thoughts like a blade. "Are you alright?"