While Luna witnessed the changes unfolding around his suspended body, Ivor himself had already slipped beyond that world. He was no longer aware of the forest, nor of the pain, nor of the blows that had driven him into darkness. He existed somewhere else entirely, though at first he could not even recognize that he existed at all.
There was nothing around him. No sound reached his ears, no scent reached his nose, and no sensation touched his skin. The darkness was complete and absolute, stretching endlessly in every direction without boundary or depth, and within it he remained suspended in a state that was neither waking nor sleep.
Gradually, awareness returned to him, not as a sudden awakening but as a slow emergence.
His eyes fluttered and opened, though at first there was nothing to see. The darkness remained unchanged, vast and unmoving, offering no point of reference and no comfort.
