The sky no longer bled shadows.

The once-cursed lands of Eclipse Valley were bathed in a gentle twilight—soft silver light weaving through the ash-laced trees, illuminating charred stone and bodies still warm from war. But it wasn’t peace. Not really. It was the silence that came after the storm, the wary hush of a land unsure if the thunder was truly done rolling.

Aria stirred in the grass, her limbs heavy, breath shallow. She blinked up at the sky, the moon’s light now a pale reflection ...