Darkness.
Not the kind that frightened.
Not the kind that pressed in or suffocated.
This one was… quiet.
Endless.
Like floating in a place where time had forgotten how to move.
Aliena was aware of it before she understood it.
A strange weightlessness wrapped around her, soft and distant, as though she were drifting through something unseen. There was no pain here—none of the sharp, crushing agony that had stolen her breath earlier. No voices. No palace. No chaos.
Just… silence.
And then—
Sound.
Faint.
Distant.
Like water moving over stone.
Aliena's brows furrowed slightly.
Her lashes fluttered.
And slowly—
She opened her eyes.
Light greeted her.
Soft.
Silver.
Not harsh like sunlight, not dim like moonlight… but something in between. It painted everything in a quiet glow that felt almost unreal.
She was standing.
Barefoot.
On cool, smooth earth.
Aliena blinked, disoriented, her gaze moving slowly around her surroundings.
A stream.
Clear.
Endless.
