Consciousness returned in fragments. You drifted within a weightless, obsidian expanse—an endless void where the horizon didn’t exist, and the air felt like static against your skin. The silence was absolute until a voice, resonant and urgent, vibrated directly inside your mind.

"Listen closely. I have pulled you from the clutches of The Blinding One, but the tether is weak. Stay low, trust no one blindly, and seek those who carry the light."

You opened your mouth to demand an explanation, but your lungs felt heavy, and the void suddenly fractured. A shimmering aperture of light tore open beneath you. Without a second to breathe, you were plunged through the portal, the sensation of weightlessness replaced by the terrifying, whistling rush of a terminal freefall.

--------------✨Astra's POV✨

Astra was the first to spot the anomaly—a streak of displaced light cutting through the clouds like a falling star. Beside her, Tyrus sat perched on a mossy log, his pen scratching rhythmically against the weathered parchment of his journal.

Astra: "Tyrus!" Astra shrieked, her finger snapping toward the sky. "Look! Someone is falling! They’re actually falling from the sky!"

Tyrus: Tyrus winced, rubbing his ear as he looked up with a frown. "Astra, for the love of—why are you screaming—" His voice died in his throat as his eyes locked onto the plummeting silhouette. "You... you weren't exaggerating? There really is someone falling!"

Astra didn't wait for a formal plan. Her eyes flashed with a frantic, determined energy that clearly signaled: Move now, ask questions later.

Tyrus: "Shouldn't we find Basil first?" Tyrus stammered, scrambling to close his inkwell before it spilled. "We need a healer if they—"

Astra: "LET'S GO!" Astra barked, cutting him off with a sharp tug on his cloak.

She didn't give him a choice. Lunging forward, Astra hauled a stumbling Tyrus out the door and into the brush. They sprinted through the undergrowth, racing against gravity toward the clearing where the sky-stranger was set to impact.