Dawn broke like a breath held too long—golden, gentle, and slow. It washed over the ruins of the Tower of Echoes with light soft enough to soothe stone. The darkness that once lingered there had lifted, leaving behind a stillness almost surreal after so much suffering.
Asher stood alone on a ridge overlooking the battlefield's remains. What had been a monument to cruelty was now broken stone, scattered ash, and silence. Emilia slept nearby, wrapped in a cloak, her breathing deep—recovering from the cost of a power few in the world could even imagine wielding.
Elira appeared beside him, flickering in the breeze like the fading shape of a dream.
"She did what none of us could," she said quietly.
Asher nodded. "And paid the price."
"She'll recover. She's stronger than we thought."
His jaw clenched. "Stronger than she ever should've needed to be."
By midmorning, Emilia stirred.
She sat up slowly, groggy but smiling. There was something different about her—an older air, not in body, but in soul. The wildness of her power had softened, glowing now as a warm hum beneath her skin.
Liaen offered her a flask and a sliver of dried bread. "Welcome back to the land of the overachievers."
Emilia chuckled, her voice rough. "Feels like I died. Twice."
"You burned through your soul reservoir," Liaen said. "And maybe a little more. Lucky your core didn't collapse."
"Guess I'm still lucky," she muttered, glancing toward Asher and Elira. "So… what now?"
Asher looked to the horizon. "Alsira's still days away. People out there still need help. And you need rest."
"But we can't stop, can we?"
"No," Elira said gently. "The Cult isn't finished. That tower was only one."
Emilia stood—slower than before, but sure. "Then we keep going. If I can help even one more soul…"
She didn't need to finish.
That afternoon, they passed into the outer edge of the Whispering Pines. The same forest that had once swallowed Emilia in fear now welcomed her with soft light and hushed wind.
"I never told you," she said, walking beside Asher, "but the day I met you, I thought I was going to die. I wasn't afraid of dying. I was afraid I'd be forgotten."
Asher looked at her. Quiet. Still.
"You won't be," he said.
She smiled. "Neither will Elira."
Elira floated beside them, her glow dimmed to near transparency. "I can feel it. My time's almost gone. That last battle took something I can't get back."
"No," Asher whispered.
"It's alright. You both carry parts of me. In your strength. In your choices. I've never been prouder."
Emilia's voice cracked. "We'll find a way to bring you back."
Elira smiled. "Maybe. Or maybe this is how my story ends. But yours? Yours is only just beginning."
That night, under the open sky, Emilia slept beside the fire. The embers glowed faintly across her skin.
Asher stood watch, as he always did. Elira appeared beside him.
"You're falling for her," she said softly.
He didn't answer.
"I'm not angry. I'm grateful."
His voice barely held. "It feels wrong."
"No. It's living. And if my fading gives you both life… then I've done what I stayed for."
A long silence passed between them.
"When the time comes," Elira said, "don't hold back."
"I'll never stop loving you."
"I know. And I'll never stop being proud of you."