Kaelen's breathing stabilized as the shadow retreated into a small, dormant seed deep within his soul. He looked at Elara, his eyes filled with gratitude and a hint of fear. "You shouldn't have done that. You've weakened yourself for the journey ahead."
"The journey is meaningless if I'm alone," Elara whispered, leaning against a tree for support. The map on her palm shifted again, the blue light turning into a brilliant, burning orange. It was pointing toward the East, far across the Great Desert to the Sun-City.
"The third crystal," Kaelen noted, his voice returning to its usual strength. "The Shard of Eternal Flame. If the Frost-Lands were cold, the Sun-City will be a furnace. And the Council's General will be waiting for us there with his full army."
Elara looked toward the rising sun. The path was long and filled with fire, but she was no longer just a girl running from shadows. She was a Guardian, and the world was beginning to remember her name.