KAEL'S POV
The light swallowed everything.
Golden, searing, endless—it roared through the cavern like a flood, washing over stone, fire, blood, and flesh alike. I couldn't see, couldn't breathe. I clung to the bond, to the pulse of Ayla's spirit inside me, or I'd have been torn away.
When the brilliance finally broke, silence fell.
The cavern looked gutted. Blackened stone dripped molten rivers, the dais split down the center as if the mountain itself had been cleaved open. Dust hung heavy in the air, glowing faint in the aftershock.
The First Luna was gone.
Her form flickered at the far side of the chamber, half-there, half-light, crouched low like a wounded animal. Her once-pristine robe was shredded, silver blood seeping down her arms, sizzling where it struck stone. Her face twisted with disbelief—and something deeper, sharper. Fear.
"You—" her voice broke into static, like two tones clashing, "—you are not meant to wield that light."
