Lyra's POV
The void that claimed me felt nothing like ordinary sleep.
Real sleep carried weight, dragging you into its depths with heavy hands that refused to release you until dawn broke its hold. This was the complete opposite. Instead of closing around me, it opened up beneath me, as if I had fallen through the bottom of a water glass only to discover breathable space waiting on the other side.
My landing came without impact.
More like drifting down. The way a feather might touch water's surface, creating barely a ripple, leaving almost no trace of its arrival.
I found myself in a hallway.
