Chapter 213

The world came back in pieces.

First, sensation. The cold stone beneath me. The weight of my own body. The air moving in and out of my lungs.

Then sound. Breathing. Multiple people breathing around me in ragged, exhausted patterns. The distant drip of something liquid. The creak of damaged stone settling.

Then smell. Blood. Sweat. Magic—both corrupted and pure. And underneath it all, something new