Chapter 4

I stood in the center of my small quarters, the room I'd called home for years now feeling like a prison cell. The first rays of dawn filtered through the thin curtains, casting long shadows across the packed bag at my feet. My hands trembled as I twisted my mother's silver locket between my fingers, the cool metal offering little comfort against the chill that had settled in my bones.

Last night's events played in my mind like a recurring nightmare. Elara's cold voice echoing off the stone walls of the elder council chamber, her words precise and cutting as…