Aveline pressed the token tightly against her chest, as though she could anchor herself to the warmth flowing through it. It was still there—faint now, but real. His warmth. His presence.
She wasn't alone.
She lifted her head slowly, her breath uneven, and looked around.
The corridor had brightened. The suffocating darkness that had swallowed it before was gone, chased away by the light that had burst from the rune. The walls stood still, unchanged, the distant murmur of classrooms faintly echoing somewhere beyond.
And yet…
Something was wrong.
That invisible barrier still lingered.
It pressed against her senses as a thin veil stretched between worlds. No one came. No one noticed. No one heard her.
She swallowed and instinctively glanced down.
Her shadow was still there.
A strange, almost desperate relief loosened something in her chest. At least she still existed here… at least she hadn't been erased completely.
But the light… It had faded.
