Chapter 175

*Elora*

The Gate was not a place. It was a heartbeat.

Each step I took through the spiraling ruin pulled me deeper into its rhythm, a pulsing thrum that wasn’t just sound—it was memory, song, and blood all at once. The walls around me were alive, carved from smoke and bone, endlessly shifting like breath inhaling and exhaling. I didn’t know how I got here. One moment I was staring into the sigil o