I woke to cold grass pressing into my palms.
For a moment, I didn't move. I just lay there, staring up at a sky washed in ink and silver, stars scattered like careless confessions. The night air bit at my skin, sharp enough to pull a gasp from my lungs.
Where am I?
I pushed myself upright slowly, my body heavy, my limbs sluggish as if I'd been carried for miles in my sleep.
My head throbbed dully, not pain exactly, but more like the echo of something being ripped away.
Memory.
I turned in a slow circle.
An open field stretched around me, tall grass whispering as the wind passed through it.
No paths. No trees close enough to recognize. No fireflies.
Just… emptiness.
Panic rose fast and ugly in my chest.
The last thing I remembered clearly was Maelis' voice.
They would take you out. You won't remember your way here.
My stomach dropped.
"They did something to me," I whispered into the night.
I didn't remember how I'd left the cave.
