Elise's POV
The air inside the cabin was thick, heavy with a suffocating heat that had no reason to be there. My skin was damp, my breathing uneven, as if I had just run for miles without stopping.
I jolted upright.
Darkness.
The frantic beating of my heart pounded in my ears. I tried to steady my breathing, but the echo of the nightmare still burned in my veins. The feeling of fire consuming everything, the shadow wrapping around my body, the emptiness trapping me inside…
This wasn’t like before.
Freidis stirred within me, restless, but she didn’t speak. She only growled lowly, her presence tense, crouched like a beast that didn’t recognize its own territory.
"Freidis?" My voice in my mind sounded more fragile than I expected.
Nothing.
Only that low growl, like an echo of my own
