Chapter 124: What Remains After War
The sky hung silent after the rupture sealed. No wind. No thunder. Just the stunned stillness of a world that had been cracked open and stitched back together with choice. The Source had vanished, or perhaps merely receded, leaving no trace but the glow still radiating from the harmony stones—and the people who stood beneath them.
Liana couldn't feel her legs. She didn't know if she was floating, kneeling, or simply suspended in the exhaustion of everything. Her body trembled, but not from fear. The battle had ended. They had won. But the cost…
"Kael?" she croaked, her voice raw.
He was beside her in seconds, arms wrapped around her before she could fall. Rowan, Jace, Vale—they were all there. Burned, bruised, alive.
"We're okay," Kael whispered. "You're okay."
"River?" she asked. Her voice cracked on the name.
