The blinding cascade of light and sound vanished, leaving behind an oppressive silence that pressed in on me from every angle. My boots struck solid ground—uneven, cold—and the impact sent a sharp tremor up my legs, jarring my already-raw nerves. My body ached as though I'd been hurled across a dozen battlefields, yet my mind clung to an edge of clarity, refusing to let the pain drag it under. Each breath I took came with difficulty, my lungs protesting the sudden shift in environment, the clean dryness of the Ashen Expanse replaced by something thicker and more saturated. Dust billowed around me in lazy spirals, curling in the weak light and stinging my throat when I exhaled through clenched teeth.