Where...?

Her eyelids fluttered, but no light penetrated the utter, all-consuming blackness surrounding her. She could feel the weight of her own body, the steady thrum of her pulse...yet there was nothing else. No sound, no sensation beyond the vaguest impression of a vast, empty void.

Is this...the afterlife?

The notion should have sparked panic, a frenzied clawing in her gut at having her existence so abruptly snuffed out. Yet Elara felt strangely serene, untethered from the chaos and turmoil that had pursued her until this fateful moment.

Perhaps that was simply death's final boon - the ability to let go and surrender oneself to the abyss with tranquility.

A...