Echoes of Chaos
Author: Anneth Annie
last update Last Updated: 2024-11-18 19:10:55

Lyra groggily awoke, her voice muffled by a crushing weight compressing her chest. Eyelids flailed open against the encroaching shadows, pierced by thin slivers of light. All was a blur—a diffused haze of shapeless something and indistinct shadows that seemed to twist about her vision. She blinked, fighting for clarity, and yet her body felt impossibly heavy, as if iron weights had been tied to her limbs.

She took a sudden, sharp breath in, clenching her teeth, and heaved herself upright. Pain exploded through her muscles like fire, sharp stabs radiating from every inch of her body. She winced, bit back a curse, forcing herself to sit. Her breathing came in shallow, ragged gasps, and she glanced around, disoriented. One question plagued her mind, insistent, chilling.

Where am I?

It struck her like a thousand-pound weight, expelling the breath from her chest.

Her friends were gone. Panic clawed up her throat as she yelled hoarsely and desperately, "Ivy? Rhett? Harrison?"

The greeting s
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