Chapter 134

*Elora*

The dream started with silence.

Not the kind that comes at the end of a long battle, not the soft hush of breath and earth and magic that I had learned to read. This silence was heavier. Stagnant. Like time had held its breath and forgotten how to exhale.

I was walking, though I didn’t remember standing. Stone crumbled beneath my bare feet—worn, cracked slabs overgrown with ash-dusted moss