{Elias's POV, 1st person perspective. After the exchange had taken place and Seraphina taken deeper into the forest by the enemy figure.}
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I stood there longer than I should have. Even after she disappeared into the forest, even after the last glimpse of her figure was swallowed by the unnatural shifting of branches and shadow, my body refused to move.
Every instinct in me was screaming to go after her, to cut through whatever stood in my way and bring her back, but logic held me in place like chains. Charging in blindly would not save her. It would only make things worse. And she wanted this so I would not destroy it for her.
Before I could act on anything, the remaining figures turned toward us. I barely had time to register the shift in their stance before something surged through the air, a force unlike anything I had encountered before.
