*Briella*

My hands trembled, the afterimage of Mathias' possessed form seared into the backs of my eyelids. Fear coiled within me, thick and suffocating, as I watched his body shudder violently before slackening, the dark influence relinquishing its hold.

"Mathias!" I rushed to his side, my heart pounding out a frantic rhythm against my ribs. He was alive. Thank the Goddess, he was alive.

His eyes fluttered open, revealing their familiar warm hue, now clouded ...