CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE NIGHT WE ALMOST LOST EVERYTHING
The Shadow King attacked anyway.
Darkness exploded across the chamber.
Kael fought him.
Elara tried to reach the Heart of Aetheria.
But the Shadow King captured her.
He forced her to feel every painful memory she had ever experienced.
Loneliness.
Fear.
Rejection.
Isolation.
She screamed.
"Stop!"
The Shadow King whispered,
"Feel it."
Elara fell to her knees.
Then she remembered Kael.
His smile.
His hand.
His promise.
She remembered Mira.
Lucan.
The Moonfang.
Her mother.
Her old bedroom.
The rain.
Every beautiful moment.
She understood something.
Pain didn't make love meaningless.
Pain made love precious.
Elara stood.
"You were wrong."
The Shadow King stared at her.
"About what?"
"Feeling isn't the enemy."
Golden light surrounded her.
"Giving up is."
She reached for the Heart.
It exploded into brilliant light.
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