The stillness did not soothe, nor did it grant mercy, but stretched across the broken square like a held breath that no one dared release, as though even the air feared what would follow if it dared to move.
Elara did not rise quickly, nor with the violent force that had shaken the ground moments before, but with a slow and deliberate motion that carried a weight far greater than haste, her arms easing from around Sarah as though letting go of something sacred rather than something lost.
Her fingers lingered for a fleeting second, trembling not from weakness alone but from the quiet refusal to accept what her body already knew, her breath shallow as she placed Sarah gently against the fractured stone.
Her gaze did not leave her face immediately, nor did her chest ease as she straightened, for something within her resisted the finality that hovered just beyond reach.
