AGAIN

Previously

…“You seem quiet,” Liam observed, his voice distant. “Just… thinking,” Elara replied, the word tasting like ash in her mouth. She wanted to say more, to ask him directly, to confront the growing unease, but the words caught in her throat. It was easier, for now, to retreat into the familiar silence, to hold onto the fading hope, to pretend that the whispers of the past were just that – whispers, easily dismissed. But deep down, a cold dread was beginning to take root, the chilling realization that the map Liam had shown her, the one filled with uncharted territories and grand adventures, might just be leading her in circles, back to a place she’d sworn she’d never return.