And though she couldn’t see it, there was a flicker of awareness deep within his subconscious, a faint glimmer of light fighting to break through the darkness.
For now, Livia remained unaware of these changes, focused as she was on her own struggles. But as she continued to visit, to talk, to care, she unknowingly became a beacon in Henry’s fight to return to the world.
--
Henry floated in the endless abyss, a heavy, suffocating darkness surrounding him. He felt as though he were submerged in deep, black water, with no light to guide him and no air to fill his lungs. His body, his mind, his very spirit, felt ensnared by tendrils of malevolent power…dark magic coiling around him like living vines. They dug into him, pulling, pressing, suffocating.
The agony was unbearable, unlike anythi
