Chapter 5: Threads of Tomorrow
Spring came early to Thornvale the following year.
Wildflowers pushed through soil that had known only frost for decades. Children laughed again in the square, chasing fireflies that glowed with faint inner light. The well’s water now tasted of sunlight and honey.
Elara stood on the hill above the village, the old gauntlet—now just a bracer of plain silver—resting on her forearm. Kael and Mira waited beside her, packs ready for the road. Kael’s scar had healed into a thin white line; he walked without a limp. Mira’s arm was whole, though she still favored flashy sleight-of-hand over real magic.
