Chapter 176

* Elora*

The first thing I noticed was the silence.

Not absence of sound—but a different kind of quiet. One that lived inside me.

For so long, my body had hummed with fire. My veins had carried heat, my thoughts laced with the thrum of power waiting to ignite. But now… it was still. Not empty. Just changed. Like a song had ended and something new waited to begin.

My lashes fluttered open. Light fi