Chapter 126: The Sword In My Heart
The thick, crimson potion slid down Serena's throat in one motion. She didn't wince. Didn't speak. Just turned and slowly stepped forward, knees dropping to the ground with a practiced grace.
Her head bowed low as her hands pressed together, forming the gesture everyone knew. The act of prayer.
I watched in silence, arms crossed behind my back.
It was time.
"Mirathis-" She spoke his true name. The one etched into Neba itself. As her voice carried, the temperature in the room shifted.
A pressure built in the air. The kind that pressed down on the lungs. That made your bones feel hollow.
I glanced at Cel beside me. He noticed it too. Tension crept into his stance, even if his face stayed calm.
Then it began.
A surge of purple Neba burst from Serena's chest, violent and sudden, crackling outward like a storm contained in flesh.
Heat poured from her body, searing. Without hesitation, Cel stepped in front of me, his cloak whipping behind him. The temperature dulled instantly, though the light still danced through.
"She's doing it," I murmured.