Tyla’s POV
The moment the rift closed around me, I felt everything.
Not just the magic tearing through my body—
but the way the world itself changed around me.
The forest’s wind disappeared.
Its scents vanished.
Its sounds fell into a silence so absolute it pressed against my eardrums like hands.
And then came the cold.
A cold so ancient it felt alive.
The silver light swallowed me whole. Not blinding—just endless. Like I had fallen into the moon itself and it was studying me with unblinking eyes.
My lungs seized.
My heartbeat stuttered.
The bond in my chest stretched so thin I thought it might snap.
Arthur.
That name—
that single name—
was the only anchor I had while the magic around me spiraled, twisted, and condensed into something that felt like a hand closing around my
