The day Zara walked away from Elio…
'I guess this is it,' Zara thought, bitterness mingling with her pain. 'The Elio I knew, the one who promised me so much... He wasn't mine.'
With each step that took her away from Elio, Zara felt a part of herself being left behind. The young girl who had found her strength in the words of a skinny boy... it all seemed to be fading away.
But even in the midst of her pain, a part of Zara refused to give up. The strength that Elio had once awakened in her was still there, dormant but unbreakable.
Flare sensed her resolve, its scales shimmering with renewed strength.
'No,' she told herself, straightening her shoulders. 'I won't let this destroy me. I'm Zara. And I'll continue to be myself, with or without Elio.'
♢♢♢♢
Zara's fury was a living, pulsating thing.
