Chapter 2:
The villagers scattered, screams piercing the morning air. The creature landed with a thud in the square, its talons tearing into cobblestones, sending shards of rock flying.
Lyra's grandmother knelt beside her, eyes wide but calm. "Lyra… remember what I told you. The shards… they choose."
Lyra's fingers burned. Without thinking, she thrust her hands toward the beast. A barrier of light, warm and trembling, shot outward, repelling the creature. It hissed, recoiling as if wounded, then soared into the violet sky, leaving a trail of sparkling fragments.
"You… you have magic," her grandmother said, her voice trembling. "It's awakening. You were born for this, Lyra."
Lyra stared at her hands, trembling. Ordinary she was not—ordinary she never would be again.
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