"Where…"
Florian blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"…am I?"
The question left his lips in a quiet breath, more confusion than fear.
The first thing he noticed was the air.
It was cool and clean, brushing gently against his skin. It carried the faint scent of flowers and damp earth, the kind of smell that came after rain, calming and familiar in a way he couldn't place.
This wasn't the manor.
It wasn't the white room he had just fallen asleep in.
When Florian finally lifted his head and really looked around, his breath caught.
He was standing in the middle of a forest.
No. Not just a forest.
It stretched endlessly in every direction, filled with towering trees whose trunks were thick and ancient, roots twisting deep into the earth.
Their branches reached high above him, weaving together like the arches of a grand cathedral. Light filtered through the leaves in soft beams, scattering across the ground in shifting patterns.
Beyond the trees, he caught glimpses of something more.
