Lyra's chest heaved as the forest around them went eerily still. Her hands trembled, glowing faintly with the residual energy that had just burst from her body. She could barely believe what she'd done. Marcus had been flung across the clearing, thrown back by a force she hadn't known she was capable of wielding.
Power.
The word echoed in her mind as she stared down at her hands, feeling the energy pulsing under her skin, tingling like electricity. It was both exhilarating and terrifying. She had never felt so alive, so in control… and yet, this power wasn't something she understood.
Kael, his chest rising and falling with the effort of the fight, stood a few feet away, his gaze locked on her. His eyes—sharp, predatory—were filled with something she hadn't seen before. Not fear, exactly, but something akin to awe. Maybe even... respect? But as the silence stretched between them, his expression darkened, and Lyra could see the war raging in his mind.
