KAEL'S POV
The first thing I felt was her scent. Wild honey and frost. Alive, everywhere.
Then pain.
A deep, grinding ache in my ribs, in my head, in the places where her touch had once quieted everything inside me.
Snowflakes fell against my face as I opened my eyes to a gray sky. The roof above us was shattered—stone split open as if the heavens themselves had struck. The Hollow's light was gone, replaced by the cold silence of the ruins.
I pushed myself up, coughing. My armor was scorched. My pulse—wrong. Too fast, too strong.
And Ayla—She was there.
Still.
Unmoving.
I crawled to her, my breath turning to mist. Her skin glowed faintly silver, runes fading beneath the surface like dying stars. Her hair spilled across the cracked floor, tangled with frost and ash.
"Ayla," I whispered. No answer.
My hand hovered above her chest. No breath. No heartbeat.
"No—no, no." My voice broke. "Don't you dare—"
