Khaterine collapsed onto the cold stone floor, her breath coming in short gasps. Darkness swallowed her whole.
She clawed at her face, her fingers trembling as she tried to blink and see, but there was nothing, only emptiness. Panic gripped her chest like an iron vice.
"No… No!" Her voice echoed in the vast chamber, filled with nothing but her suffering.
She could hear the slow, deliberate steps of Zephyrion approaching. He had taken it all. The power, the sight, the fleeting sense of control she had once held in her fragile hands.
Now, she was nothing but a prisoner in his domain.
"Is this how you truly are without my gift?" Zephyrion's voice was laced with amusement, but there was an underlying sharpness that sent shivers down her spine.
Khaterine clenched her fists. She would not break. Not yet.
She attempted to stand, her legs unsteady beneath her.
