The marble floor was covered in broken glass. Their glistening radiance dissipated in sputters as the magical wards on the

looking at Elira. She remarked, "I waited years for you to remember who you were." They told me you were lost for years. You weren't lost, though. You were concealed. She glanced at Kieran. "By him." by individuals such as himself. "Until a month ago, I was unaware of her," Kieran said firmly. "And when I did, I kept her alive." The woman sneered. "No. You used her. Just like the council used our mother." Elira's breath caught. Her heart pounded like war drums. "Sister?" she whispered, the word unfamiliar on her tongue. The woman finally stepped forward. "My name is Saphira Vel Tyrin. And yes... I'm your sister." Elira's eyes stung, but she held back the tears because too much was happening too quickly. "How are you alive?" "I escaped the Tyrin Mas

d she will die if she keeps it buried," Saphira remarked, taking a step closer. Wounded, charged, and frozen, the three of them stood in a triangle. Elira was mute. In her mind, memories flashed like sparks. The roar of flames. yells. The voice of a woman singing lullabies in a language she couldn't recall. Ashara is one name. Elira muttered, "I need answers." "I must know our mother's whereabouts." Saphira's eyes grew gloomy. She lost her life defending us a

embled. If she took the ring off... She could pass away. Or she might develop into the person she was always destined to be. Slowly, she reached for it. Kieran shifted. "Avoid it." "Why?" He didn't respond. "Why?" she insisted. Then "Because the council is obser

wn at the gilded prison ring that glowed softly on her finger. Then she looked at her sister and then at Kieran. "Then we run." The council is about to declare a hunt for Elira's latent Fir