Hours passed before Emery finally surfaced from the heavy darkness that pressed against his consciousness.
Awareness did not return all at once. It crept back in fragments—dull pain in his limbs, the slow rhythm of his own breath echoing in an enclosed space.
When he opened his eyes, dim light greeted him, flickering across walls carved from dense black alloy stone.
He was seated against the wall.
His wrists and ankles were bound by slender restraints, yet the moment he tried to circulate even a thread of spirit force, the bindings tightened, releasing a low hum that disrupted his meridians.
He closed his eyes and extended his divine sense cautiously.
It pressed outward and immediately met resistance.
The entire chamber was wrapped in multiple restriction formations. Anti-teleportation seals. Spatial compression grids. Spirit-nullifying barriers. The level of preparation was meticulous.
Beyond the chamber walls, he sensed movement.
