It's worth

Previously

…She took a deep breath, the scent of pine and damp earth filling her lungs. It wasn't the scent of spices and salt from her dream, but it was the scent of her reality, the reality she was now actively, consciously creating. She picked up a sturdy fallen branch, testing its weight. It wasn't a sword, but it would do. She wouldn't find a predetermined path, she realized. She would carve one. And with that thought, Elara turned and began to walk, her steps now a little firmer, her gaze fixed on the deepening shadows ahead, not with fear, but with a nascent, burgeoning courage. The journey had truly begun.