Kaelen plunged into the darkness, his scream swallowed by the shadows. The blackness wrapped around him, suffocating him, pulling him deeper into the void. His body twisted and turned as he fell, his heart pounding in his chest.
His breath caught in his throat, and for a moment, he couldn't tell if he was falling or if the world around him had just stopped. Panic gripped him—cold, sharp, and unrelenting. The darkness was everywhere, swallowing him whole. He reached out for anything, for something to hold onto, but there was nothing.
The air felt thick, crushing him from all sides. He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't escape.
"Kaelen!"
Seraphina's voice echoed, but it sounded far away, distant, as if she were calling to him from another world. His heart tightened at the sound of her voice, but he couldn't answer. He couldn't reach her.
