'I should've trained,' she scolded herself bitterly. 'I would have been ready.'
"Alaric! Alaric, please wake up!" she cried, her hands seizing his shoulders. She started to shake him violently, her desperation rising as he remained limp in her arms. Was the prince truly lifeless? She refused to believe it. She wouldn't give up—there was simply no way the world ended like this.
The darkness had fully claimed the woods now, turning the landscape into a jagged silhouette of shadows and bone-white branches. The air was thick and eerie, vibrating with the silent approach of the possessed. Salviana knew their position wouldn't hold for long; the circle was closing.
