---
The air around the mountain glade was electric.
Dark clouds churned overhead as the warriors stood in a circle, surrounding Elara, who knelt on the forest floor, her fingers buried in the soil, lips trembling as she whispered a chant.
"She's doing it again..." Ronin whispered, blinking at the icy blue light that began to pulse from her chest. "Is this... normal?"
Porco—perched dramatically on a fallen log with a leaf crown—sighed. "Define normal, love. She's glowing like a sapphire volcano on steroids."
Suddenly, whoosh! A burst of frost shot from Elara's fingertips and raced across the glade floor, turning wildflowers into delicate crystal sculptures.
"Elara, stop—" Rael reached out instinctively, but the moment he touched her, a jolt of frost surged up his arm, freezing his armor at the shoulder.
"I'm fine," Elara said hoarsely, standing shakily. "I needed to push the magic. It's waking up... faster now."
"You're pushing yourself," Kairon said, folding his arms. "Too fast. You're not even trained yet."
"I don't have time to be careful," she said, breath fogging in the cold she herself had summoned. "The demon's army is already moving through the northern pass."
Lior stepped beside her and gently handed her a warm wrap, his eyes quiet and knowing.
"Even blades must be tempered," he said softly.
She offered him a grateful look, but Kairon scowled and looked away.
---
Later that night, the tension hadn't settled.
Elara sat near the fire with Porco snoozing beside her, belly up and mumbling something about "roasted marshmellos and warrior boy tears."
Kairon approached her with a clumsy handful of wildflowers.
"For your... herb collection," he mumbled.
She raised an eyebrow. "You hate herbs."
"I hate needing herbs," he muttered. "Doesn't mean I hate you."
"Aw," Ronin appeared behind him like a mischievous shadow. "Our brooding assassin has feelings. Elara, quick—poke him with a stick and see if he melts."
Kairon turned, growling. "Aren't you on patrol?"
"Swapped with Daemon. He owed me three rabbits and a turn at firewood."
Elara giggled. "You two are ridiculous."
Rael appeared, arms crossed, clearly annoyed. "What's more ridiculous is that we still don't have a real plan, and the person with the most power in our camp doesn't have full control over it yet."
Elara flinched slightly at his tone. Lior stepped protectively beside her again.
"Not her fault," Lior said calmly. "We were trapped 7,000 years. She was born into this war alone."
Rael's jaw clenched, but he said nothing more. He simply walked to the far side of the fire and sat down, his massive sword resting across his knees.
---
The next day, they reached the Temple of Stormglass—a place Lior had once called "the battlefield of light and thunder."
It stood half-crumbled on a hill, vines crawling up its cracked white pillars. Strange symbols pulsed faintly in the moss-covered stone.
"This is where you fought the Demon General 7,000 years ago, isn't it?" Elara asked quietly.
Thorne stepped forward, dragging his fingers across a blade-scarred wall. "And where we failed."
"There's still power here," Lior added. "If Elara channels it, it may unlock more of her ability—or awaken ours."
Elara's eyes widened. "You mean… your full powers?"
"Half of them were sealed," Rael said, standing beside her now. "To prevent the Demon from tracking our magic trails when we were frozen. If we unseal them, our enemy will know."
Elara hesitated. "What do we do?"
Everyone turned to her. For the first time, she noticed the look they all wore—it wasn't just curiosity or trust.
It was dependence.
"I'll try," she whispered.
Porco popped his head out of her bag. "Of course you will, Ice Princess. But do us all a favor and don't explode."
"No promises."
---
She walked into the temple's heart, alone.
Crumbled pillars formed a ring around her, and as she stepped into its center, the ground pulsed blue.
"Child of Light," a ghostly voice echoed from the walls. "Daughter of the Sun... Grandchild of the True Flame…"
Her hands trembled. The ground glowed. Magic churned in her chest like a storm.
She lifted her palms.
A beam of light exploded upward.
The warriors outside staggered as the light poured from the temple roof.
Rael's sword began to vibrate. Kairon clutched his twin daggers as shadows peeled from their blades. Ronin's hands glowed with golden threads. Daemon's skin sparked red. Thorne's eyes ignited silver. Lior stood still, one hand pressed to his heart.
"She's awakening us," he whispered.
Inside, Elara screamed—not in pain, but release.
She saw visions: her mother, the true Goddess of Light, chained in crystal; the demon laughing in disguise; seven warriors trapped in frozen sleep.
And the war yet to come.
---
When she stumbled out of the temple, the sky was clear and bright.
The warriors stared at her—not with suspicion or surprise, but awe.
"You did it," Thorne said quietly.
Elara looked at them, then down at her hands.
"I think... I remembered what I am," she said.
Porco gasped. "She's finally entering her magical girl era!"
Rael cracked a rare smile.
Ronin groaned. "So now she's even more powerful? We're doomed. She'll never look at me again."
"I never did," Elara replied dryly.
Lior looked at her with a quiet intensity. "The Demon will know now. He'll come faster."
"Then let him," Rael growled, stepping forward. "Let him try."
---
End of Chapter 27