Moon's eyes snapped open, his body jerking upright as he took deep, gasping breaths like he'd been drowning for hours and had only just broken the surface.
His hands immediately flew to his head, clutching at his skull as throbbing pain pulsed behind his eyes with relentless intensity.
"What happened..." he muttered through gritted teeth, his vision swimming as he tried to orient himself. "Why am I in an inn? I was in that mystical river, and then... agh."
The pain suddenly intensified, spiking from uncomfortable to excruciating in an instant. Moon winced sharply, his jaw clenching so hard he could hear his teeth grinding.
Fragmented memories began surfacing through the agony—walking the impossible path, the crushing pressure, his consciousness fragmenting and failing, his body moving on pure instinct alone. The recollections were vague, distorted by the trauma his mind had endured, but one thing became clear:
He'd failed somewhere in the river.
