The Unchosen Gift

Previously

…Elara, clutching the Resonance Crystal, felt a dizzying surge of power, exhilarating and terrifying. She could feel the magic of the ruins flowing into her, amplified by the crystal in her hand. It was more than she had ever imagined. She looked at Thorne, at his stunned guards, and for the first time, she didn’t feel like prey. She felt like a force. The obsidian shard in her pouch pulsed, a warm counterpoint to the crystal’s vibrant hum. The Serpent’s Coil had revealed its secrets, and Elara had answered its call, not with fear, but with the burgeoning might of her unchosen gift. The hunt was far from over, but now, she was not just running. She was fighting back.