Aiden's POV The world was breaking.“MILA!” My voice ripped through the chaos as we plummeted, the wind howling like a vengeful spirit around us. My fingers scrambled for hers, reaching, stretching—barely brushing before she was yanked away by the sheer force of gravity.She screamed my name.My stomach lurched as I twisted midair, the chasm swallowing us whole. Above, the battlefield fractured into pieces, jagged stone and debris crumbling into the abyss like dying stars. The creature’s laughter—low, guttural, victorious—echoed through the void, rattling my bones.Then—impact.Pain erupted through my body as I slammed against something solid, the air knocking from my lungs in a single, brutal burst. My vision blackened at the edges, my limbs heavy as if the earth itself was trying to bury me.I forced my eyes open.Darkness. Cold. Silence.No. Not silence. A ragged gasp—shallow, desperate.Mila.I rolled onto my side, my arms protesting as I dragged myself across the rough ground. T

Mila’s POVThe cavern trembled beneath my feet, the air thick with magic and something far more insidious—fear. Aiden and I stood in the eye of a storm, our bodies locked in a delicate balance between power and ruin. The artifacts pulsed between us, a tether of light trying desperately to hold us together as the darkness swirled, searching for a crack, an opening, a single moment of weakness to devour us whole.A deafening roar tore through the cavern, the creature’s rage a living force, pressing down on us like the weight of a collapsing sky.“This isn’t working fast enough,” Aiden growled, his grip tightening around my hand.I felt the same desperation clawing at my insides. The bond between us was forming, yes, but it wasn’t solid. It was fragile, flickering, like a candle struggling against the howling wind.The creature was getting stronger.We were running out of time.“We have to go deeper,” I said, my voice shaking with the force of what I was about to suggest.Aiden’s golden

Mila’s POV“Mila, stop! You don’t know what you’re doing!”Aiden’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp and desperate. But I couldn’t stop.Not now.Not when the darkness was surging through me, filling every cell, every breath, every thought. It was intoxicating—pure, boundless power that hummed in my veins like a second heartbeat. The shadows curled around me, bending to my will, responding to my every unspoken command.For the first time since this nightmare began, I wasn’t afraid.I was in control.The creature loomed before us, its massive form shifting, writhing—uncertain. It could feel the change. It could sense the power I had tapped into. And it didn’t like it."Yes…" The creature’s voice slithered through the air, both amused and wary. "Now you see. Now you understand. This power was always meant for you, Mila. You were born for this."I clenched my fists, feeling the energy coil tighter around me. It whispered in my ears, seductive and lethal. Promising more.But deep inside,

Mila’s POV“Hold on to me, Aiden!”The words tore from my lips as we plummeted through the abyss, the weightless void swallowing us whole. My fingers tightened around his wrist, but the pull of the darkness was relentless, trying to wrench us apart.The wind—if you could even call it that—screamed around us, thick with whispers, each voice clawing at my mind. You will never win. You cannot destroy what has always been.Aiden twisted, reaching for me. “I’m not letting go.”But the void didn’t care. It stretched and warped reality itself, dragging us in opposite directions. The more we fought it, the harder it pulled. The blackness around us pulsed, shadows snaking up our arms, trying to pry us apart.Aiden’s grip faltered.“No,” I choked, panic surging.His fingers slipped—And then, suddenly, I wasn’t falling anymore.I was floating.No, not floating. Suspended. Held in place by an unseen force.I gasped as something cold and insidious slithered through my mind, its presence wrapping

Mila’s POVI can’t breathe.The world is a jagged mess of fractured light, and the darkness—it reaches. It stretches, curling around me like a thousand cold fingers, strangling me from every side. I can feel it, seeping into my skin, crawling through my veins, a malevolent force pulling me down into something worse than oblivion.Aiden’s hand grips mine tightly, his warmth, his presence, the only thing keeping me tethered to this reality. But even that doesn’t feel enough anymore.The darkness has a mind of its own. And it’s not just consuming the world—it’s consuming us.“I can’t hold on much longer, Mila,” Aiden’s voice breaks through the haze of panic, low and strained. His breath is ragged, his body pressed so close to mine I can feel his heart pounding in sync with my own.I glance at him, seeing the desperation in his eyes, but I know he’s not talking about the physical strain. It’s the force around us—the unseen weight pushing down on us, crushing our minds and spirits, that’s