Ariana woke before dawn, the faint glow of the early morning light casting long shadows over the stone walls of her room. She had not slept well; the echoes of the vision from the ruins had replayed in her mind, haunting her every thought. Faces she didn't recognize, a betrayal that cut deeper than anything she'd ever known, and that shadow watching her from the distance—it was all too much to ignore.

The power inside her, the magic she had once feared, felt both like a curse and a lifeline. The answers were out there, but every step she took toward the truth felt heavier. She knew that to understand who she truly was, she would need to confront the past—and with it, the painful truths she had long buried.