The forest didn't scream—it breathed. Shallow. Shaky. Afraid.
As the last echoes of Mara's laughter faded into the trees, the Circle stood frozen at the edge of the shattered seal. The obsidian orb lay in ruin, shards still smoldering with black fire. Spirit light flickered in broken fragments across the rune-etched floor.
Aria didn't speak. She didn't cry. She simply stepped forward.
"Mara didn't die with the seal," Caleb said, voice quiet but firm. "She became it."
"No," Thalia corrected. "She bound herself to it. And now she's free."
Elena trembled beside them. Her face was pale, drawn tight with realization. "She wasn't trying to escape this whole time… she was waiting."
Caleb turned to Aria. "We need to go. Regroup. Plan."
But Aria was already walking. Straight toward the Hollow's core, where the light had turned inward, spiraling like a vortex made of memory and shadow. It called to her—not with rage or hate, but with something worse.
