The silence that followed his disappearance was worse than any scream. It was a silence that ate, swallowing every echo, every heartbeat, every fragment of light. The world held itself still — as if afraid to move, afraid to acknowledge what had just been taken.
Lyria's knees were buried in the ash of broken stars. Her hands trembled where they pressed against the shimmering ground, the last trace of Kael's warmth still pulsing faintly beneath her palms. But it was fading — fading like a dream pulled from her fingers.
"Kael…" His name escaped her lips in a whisper that cracked like glass.
Her light flickered. The divine energy that once roared inside her was now a dying ember, trembling under the weight of her grief. Her power had always been her curse — a gift meant to destroy, not to heal. And now it mocked her.
