3RD POV-ELARA
The stillness within the crystalline cavern had been absolute for months, a profound, suffocating silence broken only by the rhythmic, slow drip of water and the shallow, controlled breathing of ELARA.
Elara, the powerful shifter-mage who had once shared a tempestuous, secret love affair with Lord Ostel, had been living in a forced, crystalline sanctuary beneath the jagged spine of the Serpent's Teeth mountains. This cave was her prison, a vast, complex Veil Ward erected by Vorath's Mages. Vorath had captured her years ago, seeking to exploit her unique shifter powers and the very Law that allowed her to conceal the paternity of her son, Riven, from the powerful Beta Lord. Now, she was merely a bargaining chip he never got to play.
