Chapter 18 Eighteen

• As Zion slowly regained consciousness, he found himself in an open field, bathed in the gentle glow of the sun. The grass swayed softly in the breeze, and the distant sound of birdsong filled the air. It was a peaceful scene, but Zion felt anything but peaceful.
• Confusion clouded his mind as he tried to piece together what had happened. He had been in the forest, facing the guardian, and then… everything went dark. How had he ended up here? And where was here, exactly?
• As he struggled to make sense of his surroundings, a figure caught his eye—a woman standing not too far away. She seemed oddly familiar, but Zion couldn’t quite place her. There was something about her that tugged at the edges of his memory, but it remained just out of reach.