Elara knelt beside the wounded soldier, her hands trembling. The injury was unlike anything she had seen before—dark veins spreading across his skin, pulsing with unstable magic.
"This wound exists in both worlds," Kael said quietly. "If he dies here, the echo will reach your world too."
Elara swallowed hard
"Then I can't treat this like normal magic… or normal medicine."
She closed her eyes and focused—on everything she knew. Anatomy. Breathing. The way pain travels through the body. The pendant glowed brighter, responding to her thoughts.
Slowly, Elara placed her hands over the wound. She imagined stitches, healing cells, steady heartbeats—while allowing the magic of this world to flow through her.
The dark veins began to fade.
The soldier gasped, then breathed steadily.
Kael stared at her, shocked.
"You didn't just heal him,"
he said.
"You rewrote the damage."
Elara opened her eyes, exhausted. "I didn't choose one world over the other," she whispered. "I used both."
Kael smiled—this time with respect.
"The Council will want to see you," he said. "And not all of them will be happy."
Far away, unseen eyes were already watching.