"Levi... he..."
Florian struggled to get the words out. His throat felt tight, his breath uneven.
The weight of what he had to say bore down on him like an iron chain, wrapping around his lungs, suffocating him. His fingers twitched at his sides as he tried to steady himself, but the reality of the moment made it impossible.
The village chief's gaze remained locked onto him, unblinking, as though he already knew what Florian was about to say but refused to believe it. The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating, until finally, the old man spoke.
"Are you saying Young Levi has passed away?"
The words seemed to echo, repeating in the air as if time itself had slowed.
Gasps filled the space around them, the villagers reacting in a cascade of disbelief and horror.
"Levi... dead?"
"Impossible."
"How could he die?"
The murmurs spread like ripples in a pond, their voices breaking beneath the weight of shock.
