ALAENA’S POV
The moment my feet touched the ground, I knew something was different.
This wasn’t like before.
The first time I’d entered the spirit world, I had been weightless, my body left behind, drifting like a ghost.
But now?
Now, I was here.
Fully here.
The cool, silver-tinged air wrapped around me like a gentle whisper, but when I looked down at myself, I saw the grime, the bloodstains, the mud caked onto my arms and legs.
My body ached from battle, my breath still ragged. I touched my face, feeling the dried blood streaked across my cheek.
I swallowed.
It was real.
I was here— but this time it was with my body.
A soft, radiant light bloomed in the distance. I turned toward it, and there she was.
Mahina, the moon goddess.
She stepped toward me, bathed in that familiar e
