94

Drezhan

I tried to speak, to demand answers, but my tongue felt like lead in my mouth. My body refused to obey me. It was as if I had been buried alive within myself, trapped in this useless shell of flesh and bone.

I blinked furiously, desperate to let them know I was awake, that I could hear them.

Then—finally—one of them noticed.

"Oh, look, he’s awake."

A group of men gathered around me, their