The world trembled the moment Aria fell.
Her body, still in the spirit realm, lay motionless amid shattered starlight and collapsing illusions. But in the waking world, she gasped—faint, barely alive—her spirit tethered by the thinnest thread.
"She's slipping!" Solene cried, her hands glowing furiously as she knelt at Aria's side. "Her soul—it's fading too fast!"
Elena knelt beside her, trembling, gripping Aria's blood-stained hand. "You promised you'd come back…" she whispered. "Don't break that promise now."
Around them, the Moonstone Sanctuary groaned. The sky cracked with thunder, and the protective runes shimmered, distorting. Magic fractured in the air, like the sky itself was mourning the spirit wolf's fall.
Rowan stood near the sanctuary's threshold, fists clenched. His eyes burned with fear and fury. The portal to the spirit realm had sealed itself when Aria crossed—and now, it pulsed with ominous energy, as if punishing them for the breach between worlds.
