I stopped resisting.
Not because I wasn't afraid — I was.
But the cold air numbed me, and his grip never loosened, not even once. His arms, strong and unyielding, held me against him as we flew farther and farther from the castle. I didn't scream anymore. What was the point?
Beneath us, the world blurred — forested hills melted into rivers, then into deep valleys swallowed by mist. The sky was dark now, the kind of black that pressed against your skin like a warning. We soared over mountain after mountain until one loomed larger than the rest — jagged, ancient, and completely out of place. It didn't just stand. It watched.
He descended toward it, wings stretching wide — those massive, obsidian things that shimmered faintly with a broken sort of beauty.
Not demonic.
Not angelic.
Something in between. Something... wrong.
