The pain did not come like fire.

That was the first thing Lyra noticed when she woke.

There was no heat tearing through her chest, no blaze racing under her skin. Instead, there was a deep, dull pressure low in her stomach, heavy and wrong, like something sinking slowly where it did not belong. Her body felt weak in a way she had never felt before. Not exhausted. Not burning. Hollow.

She opened her eyes slowly.

The room was too quiet.

No crackle of magic. No hum beneath her skin. Even the air ...