The sky was a veil of silver.

Moonlight spilled like silk over the Moonstone Sanctuary, brushing the wounded earth with a gentle glow. The air was hushed—not with tension, but with reverence. For once, the world seemed to exhale, if only for a heartbeat.

Aria stood alone beneath the shattered arch of the sanctuary’s eastern wall, her spirit humming with exhaustion and wonder. She was alive. The war was not yet over, but it had been won—for now.

But survival felt hollow without the ones ...