"Let GO!"
The baron's roar tore through the courtyard, his voice raw enough to bleed. His muscles strained against unseen bonds, veins standing like cords along his neck.
Aman stretched his small hands toward him, tears carving clean tracks through the soot on his cheeks.
"Daddy-!" His tiny fingers flexed, grasping empty air. "It hurts-!"
But he didn't move forward as if an invisible barrier held him back.
"Daddy!"
"Ama-gh!"
The pull at the baron's back intensified.
Cold whispers slithered up his spine:
Baron...
Baron...
He ignored them. Ignored the way his shoulders screamed as phantom chains wrenched him backward. His boots scraped twin grooves in the marble as he fought forward, inch by agonizing inch.
"Father."
The voice was a breath against his ear, warm where the whispers were cold. Familiar in a way that made his ribs crack open.
Aman?
"Wake up."
"!" Baron froze, his eyes widened in disbelief.
