The silence that followed the Heartstone’s shattering was unlike anything Elias had ever felt. The weight that had hung over him for so long, the crushing pull of time and destiny, the curse that had threatened to consume him—gone. He stood in the midst of the ruins, surrounded by the remnants of the Heartstone’s power, its glow now reduced to faint embers scattered in the air. The world, too, seemed to hold its breath, as if waiting for him to make sense of what had just transpired. But Elias could not find the words.Taryn was beside him, her presence a steadying force, grounding him to the world once more. She had always been the light that cut through the shadows of his life, the anchor he needed when the storm of fate threatened to tear him apart. Now, as the dust settled, she stood firm, her eyes watching him with quiet concern but also an unspoken understanding."We did it," she said softly, her voice the first to break the silence. "You did it."Elias’s hands trembled, the ab
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