I smiled gently. "That's enough, Sael. You've met it. The rest is your journey."
He opened his eyes, tears glimmering there. "I… I felt it."
I stood and faced the assembly. "Resonance is not command. It's connection. That's what every element requires."
For a long, heavy moment, silence hung over the arena. Then the High Elder rose from his seat.
"Demonstration acknowledged," he said. "Elder Maren's petition is concluded."
Maren's face was stone—pale, furious, defeated.
I turned to leave. As I passed him, he hissed under his breath, "You've made powerful enemies, girl."
I didn't stop walking. "Then they should stop making themselves my problem."
That night, when the stars burned bright over the sect, my team gathered again by the firepit. Rikan couldn't stop laughing. "You should've seen his face! I thought he'd swallow his tongue."
"Serves him right," Jao said. "About time someone put that fossil in his place."
I smiled, sipping tea. "It's not over. But it's a start."
