The chamber had grown quiet again, the mana hum a slow, steady pulse. Eran's smirk was still there, a quiet victory he didn't bother to hide. Miyu stayed rigid in her circle, breathing slow and sharp through her nose, fighting the heat that refused to leave her face.
Then...
Click. Click.
The soft sound of heels against the stone floor cut through the quiet.
The door slid open.
Selene stepped in.
Her presence filled the chamber like a cold wind, sharp yet somehow warm at the same time. The faint frost of her mana curled at the edges of the room, clashing with the chamber's verdant glow until the air itself seemed to tighten.
Eran's gaze lifted to her instantly.
For a moment — just a moment, their eyes locked.
Her emerald gaze caught his, cool and unblinking, but there was heat in it, the kind that burned slow beneath the ice.
