Ariane:
Instead of the bone-crushing fall I had braced myself for, I floated until I found myself standing barefoot, breathless on nothing at all.
It was a vast stretch of darkness that shimmered like ink spilled over obsidian, a night sky without stars, a world without edges. It breathed with ancient magic, thick and oppressive, curling against my skin like cold mist.
I couldn't breathe, I had no heartbeat, I felt no pain.
Everything around me was just deep, endless silence.
My thoughts trailed again…
Even silence had a sound. Didn't it? I thought of the crackle of a dying star, the hush of snow falling over a battlefield, and the whisper of wings unfurling in the dark.
As those same senseless thoughts that lulled me to sleep began unspooling again—I saw him.
He didn’t just wal
