Zara barely had time to react before an unseen force wrapped around her like unseen chains, yanking her into the depths of the pond. The world above blurred into distorted shapes, the sounds of frantic shouts dissolving into eerie silence. The cold water swallowed her whole, but there was no struggle for breath, no drowning sensation. only a chilling stillness that coiled around her like fate itself.
She sank deeper, the fading sunlight above giving way to an unnatural glow beneath her. The water around her shimmered, no longer dark and murky, but liquid silver, swirling with ancient energy. The deeper she went, the more the air in her lungs seemed unnecessary, as though she belonged here.
Then, a voice. low, husky, and laced with something ancient—slithered through the water like a ghostly whisper.
"Seraphina…"
