"If you are waiting for rescue," she continued, her voice lowering as though offering gentle counsel, "you misunderstand the world you entered."
She took another step closer, close enough that Liora could feel the living warmth of her body while her own shivered against cold stone. The heat was almost cruel—a reminder of everything she had lost, every embrace that would never come again.
"We can always find our way out."
A faint pause. The kind of pause that invited agreement.
"It is you who should worry about yourself."
The words settled slowly, like poison taking hold in the bloodstream—imperceptible at first, then unmistakable.
