Emira looked at the two thread bracelets she had woven, her fingers trembling as she held them out. Each thread carried a small stone, one of the few her mother had left her before she died. They were protection stones, the only shield she had known all these years, the only thing standing between her and the darkness that had chased her since childhood.
Today, for the first time, she was giving them away.
She closed her hand around the threads again, gripping tightly until the stone's edges pressed into her skin. She held them like that for a moment longer, as if a part of her still fought to keep them. These stones had guarded her life, and she had guarded them with equal ferocity. Giving them away was not a small thing. It was like giving away a part of herself. But these were not normal stones. It was a favor she would owe them now- a bond she would have no choice but to honor.
But she did not hesitate.
