The world was spinning.
Sara gasped, clutching the earth beneath her. The ground pulsed faintly with light, veins of green energy running through the soil like living roots. Every breath she took shimmered in the air. It was as if she had been dropped into a dream she couldn't wake from.
Her fingers were still entwined with someone else's.
Devin.
He stood a few steps away now, his hand slipping free, his expression unreadable. The magic storm that had swallowed them both had calmed, leaving the forest eerily quiet.
"What… what just happened?" Sara asked, her voice trembling.
Devin didn't answer right away. His eyes swept over the surroundings, scanning the edges of the clearing as if expecting something to strike.
"You triggered a rift," he said finally, his tone calm—too calm. "The barrier between realms doesn't like being torn open."
Sara blinked. "I don't even know what that means."
He looked at her then—really looked. "It means you're lucky you're still breathing."
There was no kindness in his words, but there was something else beneath them—a restrained concern, buried too deep to name.
Sara swallowed and rose to her feet, brushing dirt from her clothes. "And you? You were there before I even appeared. Who are you?"
"Devin," he said simply.
She waited for more. None came.
"Okay… Devin," she muttered. "Where exactly is here?"
He hesitated, as if weighing how much truth to give. "Veridia. A realm between life and myth. You're far from your world."
Sara's heart stuttered. "I'm not on Earth anymore?"
He shook his head.
The silence that followed was thick. The glowing leaves swayed softly, casting shifting shadows across Devin's armor. He looked like something carved from the world itself—ancient, sharp, and distant.
Sara stepped closer. "Then how do I get back?"
Devin's gaze flicked toward the amulet in her hand. "That depends on what that is."
She followed his eyes to the silver pendant, its faint green light fading. "I found it during a dig. It just… reacted."
He frowned, muttering under his breath, "Of course it did."
Sara tilted her head. "You say that like you've seen it before."
"I haven't," he replied quickly—too quickly. Then, softer, "But I've seen its kind."
Before she could press him further, the ground trembled again. The air shifted—thicker, colder. Shadows moved between the trees, low growls echoing through the dark.
Devin drew his blade in one fluid motion. "Stay behind me."
Sara's pulse raced. "What are those?"
"Hunters," he said, eyes narrowing. "The realm's way of testing outsiders."
Light flared from the edge of his sword, burning silver against the shadows. Sara felt a pull inside her chest—the same energy that had brought her here—responding to the glow.
And somewhere deep within the forest, something answered her call.