Chapter 165 Unbroken Spirit

• ~ Elara ~
• The forest felt endless. With each passing hour, the weight on my shoulders grew heavier, the air thicker with an ominous tension that gnawed at the edges of my resolve. The trees around me towered like silent sentinels, their shadows growing longer as the day wore on. My body ached from the fight with the rogues, and though I had treated my wounds, the sting of the cut on my arm throbbed with every step. Yet the pain wasn’t what slowed me down; it was the growing isolation, the quiet gnawing of doubt in the back of my mind.
• I was alone. Truly alone. Every whisper of wind, every rustle in the underbrush made me flinch, and my mind began to spiral with dark thoughts. Could I really do this? Could I truly stop Draven? The thought of him with the gem sent a shiver down my spine. I knew what he was capable of, but with that kind of power… what was I up against?