The silence that followed the collapse of the circle was heavier than the pressure that had come before it.
It did not feel like relief.
It felt like uncertainty.
Aurelia stood where the markings had shattered, her chest rising and falling as she drew in slow, deliberate breaths. Her body ached in places she hadn't known could ache, muscles trembling with the aftermath of strain. The power beneath her skin still hummed, quieter now but far from dormant—like something alert, waiting to see what would happen next.
No one spoke.
The elders remained frozen on the raised platform, their authority cracked just as visibly as the stone beneath Aurelia's feet. Some stared at the fractured ground in disbelief. Others watched her with expressions that bordered on fear.
Not anger.
Fear.
That realization settled deep in Aurelia's chest.
Mira was the first to move.
