Chapter 56

• The silence in the cave was deafening after the destruction we had wrought. The faint glow of the remaining embers cast long, eerie shadows on the walls, flickering as if the cave itself was holding its breath. My chest heaved as I tried to steady my racing heart, the aftershocks of the battle still rippling through my body.
• Kelvin’s hand was warm in mine, grounding me as I fought to regain control of my breathing. The air felt charged, heavy with the remnants of the energy I had unleashed. The Flame inside me was no longer a wild storm; it had settled, simmering under the surface, but I could still feel it—constant, demanding, yet more in tune with me than ever before.
• “I can’t believe we did it,” I murmured, my voice raw. The weight of the battle, of what we had just faced, crashed down on me. We had won… but I knew that the victory came with consequences, with scars that would take time to heal.