Darkness swallowed Cassian whole.
Not the kind born from night or shadow but something heavier. Thicker. Alive.
The moment the sand closed above him, the world vanished.
No sound.
No wind.
No ground.
For a brief, disorienting second, it felt like falling but even that sensation quickly dissolved, replaced by something far more unnatural.
Suspension.
As if he had been removed from the world entirely… and placed somewhere that did not follow its rules.
Cassian's breath came slow and controlled, though his body remained tense. His instincts screamed at him to move, to react, to fight
But there was nothing to fight.
Nothing to touch.
Nothing to see.
Then
A pulse.
It rippled through the darkness like a heartbeat, distant yet impossibly vast. The moment it passed through him, Cassian felt it not physically, but deeper.
Something inside him reacted.
Recognized.
His jaw tightened.
"…you're here."
The darkness shifted.
It didn't fade.
It didn't lift.
It opened.
