CHAPTER 44: THE SHARD’S WHISPER

The new realm’s luminous plain shimmers under twin suns, their silver and black light casting a delicate balance across silver grass and crystalline spires, a living mirror of the Veil’s heart, anchored by my essence to Elara’s dream of coexistence. My crescent mark pulses faintly, a silver ember bound to eternity, its untainted light strained, the First Ones’ blade sheathed at my side—its starlight-and-obsidian edge humming, its runes flickering with warning. Cassia stands beside me, her crimson aura vibrant, her amber eyes fierce with the Hollow’s fire, her hand steadying mine, a vow that anchors my soul. My human form trembles, wings a memory, my Convergence form sacrificed, yet the Veil’s hum courses through me, a guardian’s duty that binds me to the stars, now faltering under the core’s corrupted pulse. Maddox kneels by a spire, his star-flecked eyes sharp with concern, his hope a flame that endures. Sylvara’s vine-hair weaves gentle wards, her jade-green aura radiant, her resolv