Chapter 164. Shattered Chains

Alison’s POV

“I refuse to die like this… not today, not like this.”

I thought it was the end. I braced myself, teeth clenched, heart hammering so loud I could hear it echo in my ears. The witch’s spell, an ominous swirl of darkness and crackling green light, shot toward me like a bullet from hell itself. I shut my eyes so tight they hurt, waiting for the searing pain to tear through me.

But it never came.

Everything around me… froze.

I mean literally… frozen. The howling wind stopped mid-scream, the leaves hung motionless in the air like trapped confetti, and the cursed magic hovered right in front of me, suspended like some twisted work of art. My pulse thundered in my ears as I cracked open one eye, then the other, slowly taking in this eerie, impossible sight.

“What the…?” I gasped, my voice trembling and shaky.

A sudden warmth, gentle but firm, filled the air around me. Then came a voice I hadn’t heard in what felt like forever… s