*Briella*
My hands trembled, the afterimage of Mathias' possessed form seared into the backs of my eyelids. Fear coiled within me, thick and suffocating, as I watched his body shudder violently before slackening, the dark influence relinquishing its hold.
"Mathias!" I rushed to his side, my heart pounding out a frantic rhythm against my ribs. He was alive. Thank the Goddess, he was alive.
His eyes fluttered open, revealing their familiar warm hue, now clouded with confusion. "Briella? What–"
"Shh, you're back with us now," I soothed, though my voice quivered with emotion.
The air crackled as the priests and priestesses sprang into action, their voices ringing high and urgent above the chaos that had erupted. They brandished sacred herbs that smoldered and spat against unseen forces,
