"Survive long enough to wield it, instead of drowning in it. Survive long enough that when chains are placed upon you again, you can break them. Until then…" she stepped closer, her voice curling into his mind like a tide against stone, "…you are still mine."
Ren's chest tightened. He wanted to argue, to deny but the sea around him pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat. The storm was him. Nyxa was tied to it. To cut her away would be to cut away himself.
And then, light tore through the black.
A pulse from outside. Reality dragging him upward.
Nyxa's voice followed, soft, certain. Wake, abyss. "They are waiting to fear you."
The sea folded, pulling him back.
Ren gasped.
Air burned back into his lungs, sharp and metallic. The dark sea was gone, the abyss folded back inside him like a tide retreating. His eyes snapped open to the pale glow of the chamber.
Silence.
