The Unyielding Bloom

Previously

…He engaged the sorcerer in a desperate duel, the clang of steel against dark magic filling the air. Elara didn’t hesitate. She turned and fled, not back towards her village, but towards the shadowed embrace of the Whispering Woods, the chilling realization dawning that her quiet life in Oakhaven was over. The verdant heart within her had begun to bloom, and its unfolding had drawn the attention of a darkness that threatened to consume everything. She was a fugitive, hunted for a gift she barely understood, with only the desperate plea of a stranger to guide her flight. The adventure, terrifying and inevitable, had begun.