The world returned in fragments.
Pain first.
Then cold.
Then the muffled rush of blood in her ears, louder than any sound around her.
Rayne’s eyelashes fluttered, sticky with sweat and grime. The sharp scent of copper filled her nose—blood, thick and metallic—and for a moment, she couldn’t remember where she was. Only that everything hurt. Her side throbbed, her leg felt like it had been caught under a boulder, and her throat was dry and raw.
She blinked slowly, vision unfocused.
Above her, thick branches spread like skeletal arms, moonlight slipping through like a silver veil. She was lying on something soft—moss, maybe—or a cloak. A rough one. The air was damp, heavy with the aftermath of the Trial’s magic. But it wasn’t the infirmary. This was still the forest.
She was still in t
