Alex’s Inner Demons

The air around me thickened, turning heavy and oppressive, as if the very essence of the cavern had taken hold of my mind. The stone walls shifted, blurring into shapes I couldn’t quite make out. My heart pounded against my chest, the echo of each beat reverberating in the suffocating silence. I blinked, but the darkness didn’t lift. Instead, it coiled tighter, wrapping around me like a noose.

“Alex…” A voice, soft but unmistakable, drifted through the shadows. Lily. Her voice was laced with the same sweetness that had once filled my heart with warmth. But now, it felt cold, twisted.

I turned, but the cavern had transformed. The familiar jagged rocks had smoothed into sleek, black surfaces, reflecting distorted versions of my face. I was no longer in the cavern. Instead, I stood in the guild hall of Avalon's Ascendants. A place that had once been my home, now reduced to a hall of memories that haunted me.