I hit reality like a meteor.
The impact knocked the air from my lungs, real lungs now, actual air. My body materialized around my essence, and I collapsed onto cold concrete, gasping, choking, every nerve ending on fire.
The separation had left marks. I could feel them, invisible scars where Malevolent had been torn from my soul. Parts of me were just... gone. Lost in the void. I would never get them back
But I was FREE.
The sounds hit me next. Screaming. Gunfire. Explosions. The acrid smell of smoke and blood and terror.
I forced my eyes open.
Hell. I had fallen back into actual hell.
The capital square was a war zone. Bodies littered the streets, some still moving, most not. Cars burned, buildings were shattered, and everywhere, were the corrupted. Shadow lycans tearing through crowds. Vampires feeding on anyone too slow to run. The military firing on everything that moved.
