The Deep Border did not return to silence.
The moment the figure vanished, the oppressive weight that had suffocated the space around them lifted—but what replaced it was not relief. The air felt thinner, unstable in a different way, as though something fundamental had been altered. The fractured terrain stretched endlessly around them, but the tension remained, lingering like the echo of something that had not truly ended.
Liora felt it immediately.
Not around her.
Within her.
The power had receded.
But it hadn't disappeared.
It lingered beneath the surface of her thoughts, quieter now, more contained—but present in a way it hadn't been before. It no longer felt like something she was struggling against.
It felt… accessible.
Her fingers curled slightly at her side as she tried to steady her breathing.
That was what scared her.
Not losing control.
How easy it had been not to.
"…You're thinking too loudly."
Cairis's voice pulled her back.
