Luca's eyes snapped open.
For a moment, he couldn't understand what he was seeing.
The endless darkness was gone.
The battlefield had vanished.
The crushing sensation of death that had surrounded his consciousness only moments earlier had disappeared as though it had never existed.
Instead, he found himself staring at the familiar afternoon sky above the valley.
Golden sunlight.
Dark clouds gathering beyond Raven's Crossing.
The enormous crimson barrier surrounding the distant settlement.
The shattered road beneath him.
Everything returned at once.
So did the pain.
Luca's chest rose violently as he sucked in a desperate breath, his lungs burning as though he had been underwater for an eternity. His body instinctively curled forward while he coughed, one hand pressing against his chest as he struggled to understand what was happening.
"Luca!"
The Saintess's voice reached him.
It was filled with unmistakable relief.
"Luca, look at me!"
He slowly raised his head.
