Chapter 71

Seris’s POV

Everywhere was dark, hollow, and empty—an echo of the void I carried inside me. My surroundings seemed as lifeless as I felt, the oppressive silence broken only by the steady drip of water falling into a metal basin, each cold plink a reminder of my beating heart. I strained to sense anything else: eyes closed against the impenetrable blackness, nostrils quivering for any hint of scent, ears yearning for more than the maddening rhythm of falling droplets. The air tasted of damp earth and stale iron, thick enough to coat the back of my throat. Every breath felt like a labor, a heavy reminder that despite the crushing weight of the dark, I was still anchored to a body that refused to give up.

My bound wrists ached where coarse ropes dug into my skin. I tugged, hoping for slack, but each pull only tightened the coils around my bones. I reached out mentally to Eirwen and felt only faint, fleeting grunts in reply—barely more than static in my mind. There wa