---
Miryam's scales shimmered faintly as golden light coiled around her small frame. The essence pool's energy still lingered in the air like a charged mist, rising from the broken stone tiles and shallow puddles of luminescent liquid. Kai watched with narrowed eyes, crouched near a cracked pillar, his eyes twitching at the sudden aura pulse from their soul-link.
Another ping.
[Ding! The Host's daughter has activated: Sand Spark Glide (Basic).]
A soft tremor danced along the floor as Miryam's claws scraped across the stone. Then—whoosh—she moved.
Not with a leap, but with a blur (as if she is flash). Her body surged forward, kicking up a curling wave of warm dust and gold-tinged sparks. Fine motes of sand remnants of shattered minerals from the ancient ruin swirled beneath her claws, reacting to the flickering heat in her body. She glided in an arc, feet barely skimming the ground as she traced a half-circle around Kai and landed lightly atop a fractured slab.