Chapter 68: Elyse’s Shield of Memory

The Pale King attacked.

Not with blades. Not with flame.

With absence.

People started to fade. Thoughts unraveled.

Names slipped from tongues.

Korrin blinked.

Naia swore.

Thessaly's hand shook.

And Elyse screamed.

Not in pain. In anchor.

She planted her hands on the ground and remembered them. All of them.

"Korrin, who doubted himself but never us.

 Naia, who burned even the stars.

 Thessaly, who kissed Liss even when the world fell.

 Liss—who saved me from the silence in my own head."

Her memories formed shields.

One around each of them.

And the Pale King blinked.

"How?"

"Because I love them," Elyse whispered. "And love doesn't forget."