The air in the cavern felt thicker, pulsing with the remnants of Elara's unleashed power. As the last echoes of her scream faded, the flames that had roared around her flickered and coiled back into her skin, leaving faint, ember-like marks on her wrists and forearms. She looked down, breathless, her heart still pounding with the fear and fury of the trial.
Kael approached slowly, his face a mix of awe and caution. She could see the slight tremble in his hand as he reached for her, fingers brushing against the scorching heat still clinging to her skin.
"Elara," he whispered, eyes searching hers for a trace of the girl he once knew. "What have you become?"
She didn't answer. Words felt small, fragile against the raw, unfiltered energy coursing through her veins. She felt alive—every nerve ending buzzing, every heartbeat like the tolling of a battle drum. She had crossed a threshold, broken through the barriers of her own fears, and emerged on the other side as something more.
"We have to move," Kael said, snapping back to his usual composed self. He pulled her toward the cavern exit, his grip firm yet careful, as if touching her too tightly might ignite another inferno. "The others will have heard that. We don't have much time."
The shadows of the cavern flickered as they passed, whispers chasing their footsteps, carrying fragments of ancient tongues and forgotten oaths. Elara felt them brush against her mind, faint echoes of those who had come before her. Those who had failed.
They burst into the cool night air, the stars above flickering like distant, indifferent witnesses to her awakening. Elara took a deep breath, the chill biting at her heated skin, and turned back to the cavern's entrance.
This is where it begins.
She clenched her fists, feeling the embers beneath her skin stir in response. She had awakened, and there was no going back.
"Elara," Kael said again, his voice gentler this time, pulling her attention back to the present. "Whatever this is—whatever you've become—you don't have to face it alone."
She met his gaze, the faintest hint of a smile ghosting her lips. For the first time, she felt ready.
"I know," she whispered, the words like a spark against the dark. "But we need to be ready for what comes next."
Together, they disappeared into the forest, the shadows closing around them, their paths now entwined by fate and flame.