Chapter 148: Echoes of Sacrifice
The forest clearing became a desperate field hospital. Elara lay on a bedroll by the fire, her breathing shallow but steady. The terrifying, all-consuming shadows were gone, but a profound exhaustion had taken root in her bones. Tessa, her hands gentle but her mouth set in a grim line, checked her pulse and pupils.
"She's not injured," Tessa murmured to Kaelen and Lyra, who hovered like wraiths. "It's deeper. It's like she's… emptied. The ink wasn't just a tool. It was a part of her story. She spent it."
Kaelen knelt, his calloused hand cradling his wife's pale one. The Warden's face was stripped of strategy, laid bare with a fear he hadn't felt since the Simplifier wars. Lyra stood rigid, her sketchbook clutched to her chest, staring at her mother as if trying to map a fading landmark.
"We stop," Kaelen said, his voice rough. "We make camp here. Frosthold can wait."
