**Gaia's POV**

Aurora's tear-streaked face transforms in an instant. The maternal relief that had been written across her features—the desperate gratitude at finding her son alive—hardens into something cold and accusatory as her gaze shifts from Astrein to me.

"You," she hisses, her voice trembling with barely controlled fury. Each word comes out sharp as broken glass. "You're a disaster. A walking curse that brings nothing but death and destruction wherever you ...