The abyss opened wider.
It was not just darkness.
It was depth.
An endless chasm swirling above the kingdom, pulling clouds, wind, and light into its center. The air thinned. Sound distorted. Even the storm seemed afraid of it.
And from within that vast void
A whisper.
“Ivy…”
Her name did not echo through the sky.
It echoed inside her bones.
Below, warriors collapsed to their knees, clutching their heads. The ground trembled as if the world itself wanted to bow.
Rowan felt it too.
Not as fear.
As pressure.
Ancient. Crushing. Absolute.
High above, Ivy did not move.
Her mismatched eyes one molten white, one obsidian remained fixed on the abyss.
The Shadow King hovered at a safe distance now, no longer smiling.
“Yes,” he murmured. “Answer it.”
Ivy’s wings shifted behind her,
