Chapter 8 — Isla

Bound on a scavenger cart, Isla suffers dehydration while her captors argue over scarce water and discard mangled corpses to lighten their load. An ambush erupts; arrows fell two scavengers before the remaining pair use sand manipulation to smother six attackers. The victors scavenge canteens and force Isla and a slowly healing Lark to drink.

Isla notices a glittering silver shard at a scavenger’s neck and suspects it enables their sandwielding. She questions them about Cronan and their destination but gets silence. Lark taunts Isla’s lack of planning and hints at greater consequences, while Isla wonders whether this world was ruined before or after the founders fled.

Rain begins as the sky shifts to violet, blue, and green. At the first sign of the turning sky, the scavengers abandon the cart and run. Unlike Nightshade’s storms that drained her, this tempest surges through Isla, reigniting her abilities; she feels strength and clarity return. Lark’s powers also reawaken, accelerating her healing until she breaks her bonds.

Rejuvenated, Lark declares Isla should have stayed buried. She summons a storm portal overhead that opens like a window onto a realm of towering pines, then clenches her fist and sends the forest’s storm hurtling down toward Isla, transforming the restored power into a direct, lethal attack.