SISTER'S BETRAYAL pt 3
--- Sister’s Betrayal – Part 3: Ashes in the Garden By Ernest Leonard Sr. The scent of burning sage hung heavy in the garden, though it did little to cleanse the air of its tension. Cracks splintered the sacred circle, the same one where the sisters once danced barefoot under the moonlight, whispering old chants and secrets. Now, the soil bore the scorch of broken oaths. Liora stood still in the center of the ruin, her hands trembling. Her cloak clung to her, damp with sweat and smoke. The High Priestess stared at her with the cold stillness of judgment, her silver circlet catching the firelight. “I never meant for Elowen to be hurt,” Liora whispered, her voice barely rising above the wind. The Priestess’s face hardened. “You invoked blood magic,” she said, her tone sharp as obsidian. “Jealousy is not an excuse, child. You let it poison the rite. You severed the balance.” Behind them, under the sheltering limbs of the old Rowan tree, Elowen lay still. Her aura, once radiant, was now ba...