Descent into the Living Void
Ridge and Aria plunged into the heart of the abyss, a torrent of darkness that seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions. The void wasn’t empty—it was alive. Shadows writhed like snakes, tendrils of pure malice coiling around them, tugging, twisting, threatening to rip them apart. The Curse Keeper surged above them, a monstrous figure of obsidian and shadow, its eyes blazing with centuries of hatred and fury.
Ridge’s claws scraped against invisible resistance, silver energy sparking violently with each movement. The air—or what passed for air—shimmered with tension, filled with the raw scent of fear and the metallic tang of concentrated energy. Every second stretched into eternity, every heartbeat a drum of desperation.
Aria clung to him, her glow flick
