The Midnight Bloom

Previously

…As the first hint of dawn began to paint the eastern sky in hues of rose and gold, Elara looked at her hands. They were still trembling slightly, but it was the tremor of exhaustion, not fear. She had faced her deepest doubts, her own buried insecurities, and had emerged not unscathed, but undeniably stronger. The Midnight Bloom had shown her not just the path to protecting her village, but the path to protecting herself. The darkness had been repelled, and in its place, a quiet, luminous strength had taken root. Oakhaven was safe, and Elara, forever changed by the bloom's embrace, was ready for whatever the dawn might bring.