Chapter 103: THE DARKNESS(1)
Everything was dark. Arella felt her breath coming out in short panicked bursts. Or at least she thought she was breathing. There was no air, no warmth, no sensation of her lungs expanding. And yet, her chest rose and fell as if she were gasping for air.
The darkness around her stretched seemingly infinitely in every direction, thick and painfully suffocating, feeling so much like ink that was trying to swallow her whole. She tried to move, but still, she felt nothing. Her limbs felt numb, disconnected. Almost, distant even.
Arella’s breath continued to come in short but rapid bursts, as she tried to calm herself down. She felt inwards, seeking her holy power, seeking the energy that she had been born with, trying to cast some light in the darkness. However, she could not feel even a speck of her holy power in her.
Just when she was ready to lose all hope, her fingers twitched and suddenly, the blackness around her rippled.
The ripple spread outward, distorting the endless black. It looked like water that had been disturbed by a falling stone. It pulsed, slowly, then Arella twitched her fingers again, the only part of her body that she seemed to have some control over. The world around her rippled once more, and Arella sucked in a sharp breath.
Or, at least, she thought she had. There was still no air, no warmth, and no proof that she was alive. Nothing that was tangible and she was used to at the very least. She moved her fingers once more, causing another pulse to ripple outward. This time, it did not fade as quickly as the last one, and instead it lingered, against the suffocating blackness like a heartbeat in the dark.
Arella clenched her jaw, focusing everything she had on that tiny movement. If she could feel her fingers, then she could feel her hands, and if she could feel her hands...
Another ripple burst through the darkness, and this time, she felt the tiniest of sensations along her wrist.
A rush of determination coursed through her, and she grit her teeth, pouring every ounce of her will into her arm, all the way to her arms, forcing some kind of reaction, any reaction at all. It felt like she was dragging herself through thick tar, like something was holding her entire body captive.
However, little by little, the numbness lessened.
First, her wrist.