"It has been a long time, Dravis."
My heart stopped. That voice… I knew it. The recognition hit me like a wave, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, I felt the weight of a memory long buried resurface.
I stared at the light, my mind racing, piecing together the fragments of my past. There was only one person who could speak to me like that, with such authority, such familiarity.
"Elaitharis…" I breathed, my voice barely above a whisper.
The golden light coalesced into a more distinct form, and there, standing before me, was the spirit of the elven queen herself. She appeared just as I remembered her—tall, graceful, her hair flowing like liquid silver, her eyes bright with wisdom and age. Her presence filled the chamber, though there was no weight to it, no physicality. She was a ghost, a remnant of a time long past.