The realm trembled—softly this time. Like a breath being drawn somewhere far away.
I stood at the edge of a cliff I hadn't shaped. The void should have been blank here, but it wasn't. A path now stretched forward: thin, glowing faint blue, curving into nowhere. It wasn't real—but it wasn't illusion either. It felt like memory had built it, like someone remembered walking this path even if no one truly had.
Kael stood behind me. "You don't have to go."
"I think I do."
Riven frowned, arms crossed. "What if it's a trap?"
"It is a trap," I said. "But it's also an invitation."
The black feather Kael had caught earlier hovered near my palm, spinning slightly in the still air. It pulsed like it was syncing with my heartbeat. It wanted to lead.
"I won't let you go alone," Kael said, stepping beside me.
I looked at him. His eyes were steady, but I saw the storm beneath them—fear, love, desperation.
"I have to go alone."
He reached for me, but I stopped him.
"You've always protected me," I said softly. "Now let me protect all of us."
Then I turned and stepped onto the glowing path.
Immediately, my senses shifted.
The air grew thicker, time thinner. The more I walked, the more I felt seen—not by one presence, but by many. Forgotten kings, broken gods, dreams that died before they were born. Whispers in languages I didn't know danced around me, tugging at my thoughts, begging me to stop, to turn back.
But I didn't.
I kept walking.
And then… the world tilted.
The void vanished.
I stood in a field of stars.
Not above, not below—just all around me. Like I was walking inside a galaxy still being formed. In the distance, a throne of bone and starlight pulsed gently, and seated atop it…
Was the one who had smiled.
But they were still too far to see.
Still waiting.
Still watching.
---