Chapter 200

*Elora*

The dagger hadn’t left my side.

Even now, wrapped in cloth and hidden inside the folds of my cloak, I could feel it pulsing. It didn’t need to touch my skin to burn. It didn’t need to whisper to speak. It was alive in the way old magic always was—not just power, but memory. Decision. Destiny.

And it was waiting for me to decide.

I stood at the edge of the meditation chamber, staring at the