(Liora POV)
The forest just beyond Blackspire's northern ridge had always been a place of quiet healing for me.
Even before the fracture, before the darkness swallowed so much, I had come here to gather herbs and clear my mind. Now, years later, it felt like returning to an old friend — one that had changed as much as I had. Vines of moonbloom and starwort climbed the ancient trees, their petals glowing faintly even in daylight. Moss carpeted the ground in thick, emerald layers. The air smelled of pine, damp earth, and something sweeter — a clean, living energy that hadn't been there before Lyra was born.
The child's light was changing the land itself.
