[Aurelia's POV]
The world around her no longer resembled an arena — it had become an endless ocean of molten light, flames spiraling like serpents through a sky that no longer existed, swallowing sound, swallowing reason, and threatening to swallow her. The inferno pressed into her lungs, searing each breath until it felt like she was inhaling knives forged from the sun itself. She could feel every sensation — every blister forming across her skin, every muscle fiber screaming, every thread of aura inside her straining to hold her together as the flames tried to tear her apart, demanding she surrender, demanding she break.
Is this what they all expected from me? A girl consumed by the very fire she thought she controlled?
Grandfather's voice — hard as steel, cold as the deepest winter caverns — slithered through the heat.
"Power alone isn't enough, Aurelia. You are a woman, and you….can't lead!"
Resolve.
