The world died in an instant.
The pitch-black void created by the *Primal Eye of the Eclipse* did not merely block the sun—it devoured sensation itself. The warmth of the mountain air vanished, replaced by an unnatural, bone-chilling cold that smelled of stale graves and burnt iron. Vision was extinguished completely; even the golden runes blazed into dead gray skin along Valerie’s arms.
"Valerie!"
Before the suffocating shadow could crush her lungs, a massive weight slammed over her frame. Kaelen’s heavy, steel-clad body covered hers entirely, pinning her against the stone parapet. His heavy wolf-skin cloak snapped over her head, shielding her face from the razor-sharp shards of black ice raining from the sky.
His heart thundered against her back, steady and fierce.
"Stay down!" Kael
