Skylar

The warmth returns, not from the fire, but from something deeper, something unquenchable. Alaric believes in me, and his faith is the spark I need to reignite my own.

"Thank you," I whisper, feeling a renewed surge of determination. "I won't give up. For our people, for you, for Neo—I will rise to every challenge."

"Of that, I have no doubt," he assures me, and together, we turn our gaze to the canopy above, where light and shadow play in an eternal dance—much ...