POV: The Void

She thought mercy was a chain, but chains can be studied.

At first, I was still.

This is not the same as silence, stillness is an act, a decision. I folded myself inward and allowed the prison to close, allowing the walls of light and intention to press against my vastness. The medallion did not crush me. It contained me, the way a cup contains the sea only because the sea permits it.

Lyra believed she had won by offering herself.

She did not understand that sacrifice is a ...