Chapter 26 Beneath The Gaze Of The Moon

• The night cloaked the clearing in its dark mantle, and the moon, shy, emerged from between the clouds, casting its silvery light upon the stage of the dance. Ellie was completely absorbed in the movements of the ritual, her arms rising with natural grace, each step a delicate balance between control and surrender. Her white dress seemed to float with her, gliding gently in the cool breeze that caressed her skin. Despite the cold air, a peculiar warmth ran through her chest, as if something within her awakened only when her feet touched the earth in rhythm with the ritual.
• Daelan watched her from a corner, his figure shrouded in shadow, but his eyes shone with a brightness that was hard to ignore. He should have been waiting for his turn, focused on what was to come, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Ellie. She danced with a beauty that wasn’t just physical; there was something in her devotion, her connection to the earth, to the moon, that captivated him completely. And without thinking, his feet began to move toward her, softly, almost automatically, as if something else was guiding him.
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