CH4

Ylena's eyes swept over the final words on the page, her heart sinking lower with each passing sentence.

THE END.

The words stared back at her, stark and final.

Her hands trembled as she slowly closed the book, but the weight of Elanthia's fate pressed heavily against her chest. Tears gathered in her eyes, blurring her vision, and before she could stop them, they spilled down her cheeks.

She choked on a sob, clutching the book tightly against her chest as if holding onto it could somehow rewrite the ending. "No... no, she didn't deserve this," she whispered, her voice breaking under the weight of her sorrow. The image of Elanthia—alone, discarded, and forgotten—burned in her mind, making her tears fall even harder.

But it wasn't just Elanthia's story that hurt. It felt too personal, too raw. The pain seeped into her bones as if it were her own. Then, her mother's face appeared in her mind—the woman who had been left to fend for herself when she discovered she was pregnant with Ylena. She remembered the quiet nights, the silent tears her mother thought she never noticed.

Ylena bit her lip, trying to hold back the sobs that now wracked her body. Her mother had done her best to stay strong, but illness had taken her too soon, leaving Ylena to navigate the world alone before she was even ready. She had been forced to grow up too fast, to survive in a world that had never shown mercy to women like her mother... or like Elanthia.

"I couldn't save her either," she murmured, her voice small and fragile. The pain of abandonment, of watching someone she loved slowly fade away, crashed over her, mixing with the fresh grief over Elanthia's fate. It felt as if she was mourning both of them—her mother and the fictional woman whose story had become painfully real in her heart.

Ylena buried her face in her hands, her sobs unrelenting. The anger simmered just beneath the sorrow—anger at Draeven, at the cruel world that allowed this to happen. But all she could do was cry, grieving for a life that had been stripped of its happiness—just like her mother's.

The emptiness within her was suffocating. It was a familiar ache, one she had carried for as long as she could remember. She curled in on herself, her body trembling with grief. Elanthia's fate, so intertwined with the pain of her own past, felt unbearable. Her chest ached, her tears refused to stop.

But then—something strange happened.

The book in her lap grew warm, an unsettling heat spreading beneath her fingertips.

Startled, Ylena looked down.

The book felt almost alive, pulsating with energy. She flinched and gasped as she was startled and almost instantly released it from her grip. The moment it hit the floor with a dull thud, the atmosphere in the room shifted.

The pages of the book fluttered open on their own, as if caught in a breeze that didn't exist. Then, without warning, a gust of wind shot from between the pages, swirling through the room. Her heart skipped a beat. What was happening?

Before she could react, a brilliant, golden light erupted from the book's spine, flooding the room with warmth and brightness. The air around her shimmered, filled with soft, glowing particles that floated like stars in the night. Ylena gasped, her breath catching as the light intensified. Its glow was so powerful that it forced her to squint.

A strange force tugged at her and pulled her towards the book. "What the—?" she muttered, trying to stand, but her feet wouldn't move. The golden light swirled faster, forming a vortex that seemed to stretch beyond the edges of the room, as though the very fabric of reality was warping around her.

The wind roared now, howling in her ears, and the book's pages flipped violently, faster and faster. The bright light engulfed her, making it impossible to see anything but a sea of gold. Ylena's heart pounded in her chest. Panic surged as the pull intensified, lifting her off her feet.

Her body floated helplessly toward the glowing vortex. "No, no, no!" she cried, trying to reach for something—anything to hold onto. But there was nothing. The room around her disappeared, swallowed whole by the brilliant light.

And then, with one final blinding flash, Ylena was sucked into the book. The world around her collapsed into darkness.