Elara stood in silence, her pulse echoing in her ears. The light from her wrist and crystal began to fade, but a deep warmth remained—like something ancient had stirred.
She turned toward Kael, her voice a whisper.
"My name… I remember it now."
Kael stepped forward, his gaze intense. "Then speak it."
She hesitated. Her throat was tight, her mind reeling from the flood of memories.
"Elariën."
The name rang through the ruins, as though the stones themselves remembered.
Kael bowed slightly. "The name of the Bound Star."
A sudden wind swept through the trees, stirring leaves in a slow spiral. The hunter was gone—vanished into mist—but something darker remained in the air.
"They'll send the next one," Kael said. "Stronger. They'll know you've awakened."
Elara clenched the crystal in her hand.
"Then we go to them first."
Kael blinked. "You want to strike first?"
She nodded. "No more running. If this pact is mine, I'll own it."
A slow smile crept across Kael's lips.
"Then let's finish what we started."
They walked side by side, past the ruins and into the forest—toward the enemy.