Sasha’s POV
I woke to a darkness that wasn’t simply the absence of light. It was alive—thick and suffocating, pressing against my skin like the cold breath of a grave long forgotten. The air reeked of rot and damp stone, ancient and unyielding, as if the walls themselves had swallowed centuries of death and decay without mercy.
My wrists screamed—aching, raw, bound.
I tried to move, but as soon as I shifted, the cruel bite of enchanted metal bit deep into my flesh. Chains, heavy and unyielding, hung above me, suspending my arms painfully overhead. Each iron link was etched with glowing violet runes that pulsed with malicious intent—runes that fed on my magic, sapping it, twisting it into silence.
Every time I summoned the faintest flicker of flame inside me, sharp pain seared my nerves
