The Shadow Realm had been a vortex of chaos, a prison of choice and consequence. But when the light and darkness clashed, when the world around me fractured and blurred, a memory broke through—a vision so vivid it felt like a heartbeat pounding against my chest. The glacial expanse of ice and snow. The biting cold that felt like home.
I collapsed to my knees as the shadows writhed around me, their voices turning shrill and discordant. The whispers no longer tempted me—they cowered, recoiling as a deep, ancient power within me stirred to life. I placed my hands on the frozen earth beneath me, and a frost of my own creation began to spread, crystallizing the chaos into stillness.
“Lux?” Ravi’s voice cut through the haze, sharp and insistent. He stepped forward cautiously, his movements del
