The final second stretched into an agonizing infinity. The groan of sliding metal echoed like a dying beast, momentarily drowning out the panicked thrum of Nala’s own heart. She felt the violent lurch as gravity reclaimed its prize. The obsidian floor beneath her boots didn't just slide; it disintegrated into a yawning abyss of absolute, predatory darkness.
Nala screamed, the sound instantly swallowed by the void. Her hand ripped away from Leo's desperate, clawing grip. She was falling.
The sensation was terrifyingly pure no wind resistance, no light to anchor her, just a sickening, weightless tumble into nothingness. The only reality was the frantic thumping against her chest and the agonizing, burning heat bloom from the malachite bracelet on her wrist. It wasn't just pulsing now; it w
