The Council Hall rose like a crystal cathedral, its walls shifting between reflections of a modern city skyline and an ancient magical realm. Elara's footsteps echoed as she entered, her hospital scrubs standing out sharply among the tailored suits worn by the Council members seated in a perfect circle.
She felt every gaze weighing her down.
"This is where decisions that shape worlds are made,"
Kael murmured beside her.
"Choose your words carefully."
A woman with silver hair stood, her presence cold and commanding.
"You are a human,"
she said. "Yet you wield magic capable of altering both realms. Such power has consequences."
Elara lifted her chin. "So does doing nothing."
A ripple of murmurs spread across the hall.
Another Council member leaned forward.
"You healed a wound that should not have been healed. That imbalance could tear the boundary apart."
Kael stepped in front of Elara. "Or it could save us all. She healed not with raw magic, but with knowledge—science and compassion combined."
The silver-haired woman's eyes narrowed.
"Bridges are dangerous. They allow invasion, chaos, collapse."
Before Elara could respond, her pendant flared with blinding light. Visions flooded her mind—hospitals swallowed by darkness, magical towers crumbling, people screaming in both worlds.
She gasped and dropped to one knee.
"I didn't ask for this,"
Elara said, her voice shaking but strong.
"But I've seen what happens if I walk away. Two worlds will suffer. And I won't let that happen."
Silence fell.
For the first time, uncertainty crossed the Council's faces,
Finally, the woman spoke.
"Then prove you are more than a threat."
Kael looked at Elara, pride and fear in his eyes.
The trial of the bridge had begun.