Chapter 13: what the people saw

Slowly, Umbra opened his eyes and found himself, for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, in a place devoid of anything. The ground he sat on was white, flat ground that just seemed to go on forever in every direction. There was no sky above him, no stars-just a great, open expanse of soft, shining light. His heart was heavy with despair, his mind clouded with the remnants of the endless cycle he had just endured. Every death, every loss, still echoed in the corners of his mind.

He was alone, or so it seemed, until a soft humming sound filled the air. A presence materialized before him-an ethereal figure that had no defined shape, only a silhouette of shifting light-but Umbra could feel the immense power it held. It was as if the whole space was its creation, an extension of its will.