The Weight That Remains

The silence lingered, an oppressive quiet that seemed to echo through the very walls of the Citadel. Daniel stood motionless, his breath steady but slow, as if adjusting to something unseen yet profoundly real. His surroundings—the towering ruins of the Citadel—seemed unchanged, yet everything felt different. The oppressive darkness that had once threatened to suffocate him was gone, replaced by a stillness that was neither comforting nor hostile. It simply was. A silence that was thick with anticipation, as though the Citadel itself was holding its breath, waiting for the next move.