**From Lyra's Point of View**

The silence that followed was deep, but it wasn't the tense, waiting silence it had been before. The deep, resonant quiet that comes after a big storm, when the world is clean and holding its breath in awe. The air in the Sanctum felt different—thicker, richer, and full of potential that was both exciting and scary.

The united medallion was no longer just an object; it was a presence on the stone plinth. The obsidian sphere, with its emerald veins that pulsed ...