There was no pain now. Only silence, heavy and endless, swallowing every thought.
Then came the sound of water. Gentle, steady, like a stream running over smooth stone. Cedric floated in emptiness, weightless, without floor or ceiling. Somewhere above him, a soft silver light pulsed faintly.
He blinked.
All at once he was standing in a grove of tall white trees. Their leaves shimmered like glass, and their trunks leaned inward, as if listening. The sky was dark, though it was not night. Colors swirled overhead like ink spreading through water.
From between the trees, a figure appeared.
They wore a deep gray cloak, their face hidden beneath a hood. Their steps were slow, graceful, and strange, not quite human but not unnatural either. At their waist hung a key made of twisted silver and glass, glowing faintly.
The figure said nothing.
They turned and began to walk, leaving no trace on the ground. Cedric felt a pull in his chest, unseen and steady, urging him to follow. And so he did.
They passed through shifting places that changed with every step. A battlefield filled with broken swords. A cliff that looked out on a sea of stars. A vast city made of stone and mist, its towers crumbling as if time itself had abandoned it.
At last, they came to the lighthouse.
It rose high above the clouds, the golden tower shining like the sun caught in crystal. Yet in this dream, its glow was not harsh. It pulsed gently, more like a heartbeat than a beacon. Cedric felt it. Alive.
The cloaked figure turned to him.
"You were drawn here," the voice said, hollow and deep, like wind moving through stone. "The blood remembers, even when the mind forgets."
Cedric tried to step closer, but his feet would not move. The clouds rose higher, curling around the golden tower, swallowing it.
"The spring watches. The keeper stirs. What was lost is waking."
A sudden wind tore through the grove, sharp as glass. Whispers filled the air, thousands of voices, some warning, some pleading.
Then, a hand touched his shoulder. Strong. Familiar. Like a hand he had known all his life.
Cedric turned to see who it was.
But there was only light.
Blinding. Endless. Golden.
Then nothing.