The world was white, not silence, not void white blinding, absolute, devouring. A brilliance so pure it drowned every shape, every shadow, until even memory wavered for a moment, there was no battlefield, no abyss, no breath. Only light. Mila floated in it, weightless, unmoored.She tried to scream Robert’s name, but the sound dissolved before leaving her lips. Her body ached, her spirit trembled, but worst of all she couldn’t feel him. Not his hand, not his presence, not even the faint ember of his soul that had always lingered like a heartbeat against hers.The tether was gone, panic clawed through her chest. She reached, searching, clawing through the sea of white as if she could tear reality back into place with her bare hands. “Robert!” Her voice cracked, breaking against the brilliance. “Don’t leave me”A tremor rolled through the light then another. The whiteness began to fracture, as if it were glass under pressure. Mila’s heart leapt she clung to hope with desperate fingers