Echoes of Courage

The air in Elara’s lungs felt thin, a stark contrast to the vibrant, crackling energy that usually surged through her veins. It was gone. Utterly, terrifyingly gone. Like a candle snuffed out, leaving only cold, still darkness. She flexed her fingers, the familiar hum of latent power absent. Panic, cold and sharp, pricked at the edges of her mind, but something else, something deeper and more stubborn, pushed it back. Her mother. The image of her mother’s kind eyes, now clouded with fear as she was pulled into the swirling vortex of the evil wizard’s magic, burned in Elara’s memory.

Finn’s voice, laced with a desperate urgency, broke through her daze. “Elara? Are you alright? What happened?”

She shook her head, a small, helpless gesture. “I… I can’t feel it. My magic. It’s… gone.” The words tasted like ash.