C34 LIFE AND FLAME

The world was silent.

Not the silence of peace — but the type that comes after disaster.

Elara gasped as her lungs filled with breath for the first time in what felt like eternity. The ground beneath her was warm, soft like ash, and the sky above glowed a pale crimson. It wasn’t the world she knew — nor was it the Vale she’d left behind.

She turned slowly, her pulse racing