Days began to pass while Max remained locked inside the cage. The golden medicine had closed his wounds, and the pain that once accompanied every movement gradually faded, yet his magic still refused to answer. He could feel it within him, intact and close enough to reach for, but every attempt ended with the same frustrating silence. Even his bloodline remained beyond his control, leaving him unable to summon so much as a single scale upon his skin.
He had expected to break out the following morning. Instead, an entire week had passed, and he was still suspended above the ground, gripping wooden bars he had imagined tearing apart with ease.
