Elara woke slowly.
Not because she wanted to… but because her body refused to move any faster.
There was a heaviness to her limbs, a quiet soreness that settled deep into her bones, unfamiliar yet not entirely unpleasant.
It lingered like a memory her mind hadn't caught up with yet. For a moment, she didn't open her eyes. She just lay there, still, listening, waiting.
There had been warmth beside her last night. She could still feel it—faint, like the ghost of something that had already slipped away.
Without thinking, her fingers moved across the sheets, searching, expecting..but they met nothing, only cold fabric, empty space.
Her eyes opened slowly. The room looked the same, nothing had changed, and yet—everything felt wrong.
It was too quiet, too still like something had been taken from it. Or someone
She pushed herself up, her movements careful, as though any sudden shift would break whatever fragile understanding she was trying to grasp.
