Chapter 41
Beneath the ash-swept stars, Nezutsu walked in silence.
Kaelith led the way, her blade humming faintly with stored mana — not for offense, but as a shield. The forest ahead, known as Threnvale Hollow, wasn't marked on any map. That's because no one came back to tell where it ended.
"We'll hide in the Hollow?" Nezutsu asked.
"No," she said. "We'll seek someone. The last dreambinder."
"Dreambinder?"
"They were once the only ones allowed to touch the minds of sleeping gods. If the gods are stirring now… we'll need him before they do."
A World with Breathing Shadows
Threnvale Hollow wasn't just silent.
It absorbed sound.
Their footsteps didn't crunch leaves — the leaves curled away from them. No wind. No birds. The trees had bark that shimmered like mirror-glass and branches that twisted into shapes that felt like whispers.
Kaelith reached into a pouch and tossed a pinch of black powder into the air.
It floated, spun, then sank straight into the earth — disappearing.
"He's still alive," she said. "The powder would have burned if he wasn't."
"What's his name?"
"No one knows. But I've heard him called the Lucid One."
Meanwhile: The Hollow Court Convenes
In a distant palace made from broken moons, twelve figures sat in silence.
Robed in threadbare night, faceless, bodiless — known only by their voices and the titles they wore.
"The boy has breached the second threshold," one whispered.
"The brand on his hand now pulses against the Seal," said another.
"If he reaches the Third Name…"
"He must not."
From a silver basin, the court watched the image of Nezutsu flicker.
"Send the Nihil Daughters," the eldest rasped. "If flame defies sleep… then let emptiness devour it."
The Lucid One
After hours of navigating winding crystal thickets and dream-drenched fog, Kaelith and Nezutsu arrived at a strange circle of trees — identical, but each leaning slightly inward.
In the center: a man.
Or… at least the memory of one.
He was thin, glowing faintly blue, seated on a stone throne covered in thorn runes. His eyes were closed, but his mind spoke.
"You bring fire. It smells of rebellion."
Nezutsu stiffened.
Kaelith bowed.
"Lucid One. We come for guidance."
"He is the one who broke the Second Name. You are a fool to guide him."
"And yet here we are."
The Lucid One opened his eyes.
Inside them, galaxies spun. Time ran backward. Nezutsu saw himself die — and yet remain alive.
"You seek the Dreamglass, don't you?" he said to Nezutsu directly.
"What is it?"
"The only mirror that reflects what gods fear."
"Why would I want that?"
"Because the Third Name is not just locked… it is hunted."
He pointed to Nezutsu's chest.
"You carry an echo not of just flame, but origin. You are not the descendant of gods. You are their... mistake."
Subplot Twist: Kaelith's Hidden Past
The Lucid One turned to Kaelith.
"And you… Ash-born. You still think he doesn't know, do you?"
Nezutsu glanced at her. "Know what?"
Kaelith's jaw clenched.
"I wasn't sent to protect you," she admitted. "I was sent to watch you. By the Mirror Archive."
"You lied?"
"I was meant to mark you when you turned. But I didn't. I saw something in you…"
"So this was all a mission?"
"No. It was. But now it's more."
Nezutsu looked away, fire trembling on his fingertips.
"How many more lies will I burn through before I know anything real?"
The Dreamglass Vision
The Lucid One placed his hand on Nezutsu's forehead.
"See what you must. And beware — once seen, the dream begins to bleed."
FLASH
Nezutsu was floating in a void filled with mirrors — each one showing a different version of himself:
One where he never lost his magic and ruled the skies.
One where he became a monster, killing everything he loved.
One where he stood beside the gods — then struck them down.
And one where he was just a child, forgotten, abandoned by fate… screaming into a world that never answered.
"What are these?" he asked.
"Possibilities. Lies wrapped in truths. But look deeper."
One mirror cracked.
Behind it, an ancient door — chained, sealed in gold runes, with one name scratched across it:
Asharan Yurei-Tar. Flame Without Shape. Will Without Master.
And beneath that:
"THIRD NAME: NOT TO BE SPOKEN."
The mirror shattered.
Nezutsu screamed.
The Gods Stir
In a realm where sleep is stitched into reality, something twitched.
A voice. No… seven voices. Speaking from different mouths, through the mouths of dreams.
"He sees."
"He remembers."
"The wound reopens."
A great throne cracked.
A god turned its head for the first time in millennia.
"Send the Hollow Queen."
The Flames Turn Inward
Nezutsu awoke — gasping.
His hands were on fire… but the flame wasn't violet anymore.
It was white.
Kaelith backed away.
"White fire... That's not mortal."
Nezutsu fell to his knees, heart pounding.
"I think the Third Name… it's not locked behind memory. It's locked behind choice."
"What do you mean?"
"If I want to know it… I have to burn myself away. Everything I am."
Above them, in the blackened sky, the first of the Nihil Daughters stepped down from moonlight — a woman of void, holding a blade shaped like silence.
And she whispered:
"Ashless One. Your time ends here."
[TO BE CONTINUED…]