Sumaya's eyes fluttered open, and yet—she had never closed them. One moment, she had stepped through the portal in the tree, and the next, she was here. But where was here?
She stood barefoot on soft, shimmering grass that seemed to glow under an eerie silver light. The sky above was endless and vast, painted in deep purples and blues, streaked with golden currents that pulsed like veins of light. There was no sun, no moon—just an ethereal glow that bathed everything in an otherworldly radiance.
Towering trees surrounded her, their leaves crystalline, reflecting the glow like shattered glass catching the light. A river of liquid opal wove through the landscape, its surface shifting colors with each ripple. The air itself felt thick with something—magical. It hummed around her, wrapping around her skin like a whisper she couldn't quite hhear
Then she saw him.
