Vix went flying from the darkness and into a dim room. She rolled over and over as pieces of smoking debris peppered her exposed arms painfully, until she crashed against a spindly chair, which exploded like it was made of sawdust, and came to a halt.

For a moment, Vix just lay there, her body aching and her breath hitching in her chest. ‘I’m alive.’ She could not believe it.

The next instant, a wave of fear swept over her. She looked around wildly and found, to her ...