Amara's body felt like it was being torn apart, the shadows surrounding her like a suffocating vice. The creature loomed in front of her, its eyes burning with an ancient hunger, its hand outstretched towards her. Her every instinct screamed at her to move, to run, to fight, but her body refused to obey.
The words it had spoken echoed in her mind: Your power belongs to me. There was no question in its voice, no doubt. The creature believed it. And for a terrifying moment, Amara couldn’t help but wonder if it was right.
The darkness swirled around her like a living thing, pulsing with malevolent energy that seemed to seep into her very bones. She could feel it—the power she had been wielding, the light that had once burned so brightly within her, was now faltering under the weight of the
