The envoy raised its arm. The air cracked and split without a sound. Lines of force tore across the ground. There were no flares, no warnings, only clean destruction. Each strike was built to bind and erase.
Elara moved without hesitation. Every step she took left a trace of light behind her. The glyphs were not drawn. They formed from her movement, glowing symbols burned into the ground by presence alone. The attack hit her shield and boiled into steam.
The envoy tilted its head.
"You believe you are something separate."
"I remember what I am," she said.
"You were constructed to open the Gate."
"I choose to stand before it."
Light descended from above in wide rings. They did not shine. They erased light itself. Elara's hands trembled as heat climbed her throat. Her glyph flared. She inhaled fire.
Then she spoke his name.
The rings collapsed into nothing.
Far away, Tian felt it.
★★★
