[VOLUME 13: THE PRIMEVAL ASCENSION][ERA: THE POST-DIVINE AGE][LOCATION: THE SHATTERED AXIS -> THE MORTAL REALM]
It was the heat that woke her, or rather, the terrifying sensation of burning from the inside out.
Elara gasped, her back arching instinctively, but there was nowhere to thrash. She was encased in a cocoon of solid muscle, scarred leather, and fractured silver armor.
"Easy. I've got you. Don't move," a deep, gravelly voice rumbled against her ear.
She cracked her eyes open. The world was a spinning blur of fused cosmic glass and collapsing starry voids. The Heavenly Realm—or what was left of it—was actively disintegrating around them. Without Li's divine authority holding the realm together, the dimension was folding in on itself like a dying star.
Aldren's arms were banded around her, holding her flush against his chest. The Sovereign of Shadows was breathing heavily, his usually immaculate abyssal aura flickering erratically.
