VIOLET
Darkness wasn't empty.
It breathed.
It pulsed.
It whispered.
I wasn't dreaming. Not really. It was deeper than that—older. Something between memory and prophecy, something not mine… and yet, buried inside me.
I stood in a field of white ash, the sky red like blood, the wind howling with screams that didn't belong to this world.
In the distance, a lone figure stood—tall, broad-shouldered, wrapped in black smoke and flame.
Zain?
No… not him. Not really. He had his face, his body—but his eyes were glowing gold, ancient, and wrathful. He turned, and when he spoke, it was in a language I didn't recognize. But somehow… I understood.
"You bound me once. You will do it again."
I took a step back. "I don't know what you're talking about."
His voice echoed across the plain. "You remember."
Flashes hit me like lightning:
—My hands covered in blood.
—A silver blade, curved like a fang.
—A crown broken in two.
—Zain kneeling, chained, eyes full of rage and… love.
