The sea was calm, too calm.
As the ship left the Isle of Dreams behind, the water beneath them darkened into a glassy black, mirroring the sky perfectly. Above, no clouds moved. No stars twinkled. Just a smooth, endless ceiling of twilight.
"We're close now," Vaelen murmured. "This place… it's not sea anymore. It's Skyglass."
"The end of the world?" Riven asked, peering into the horizon.
"The place where the world begins again," Aelira answered softly.
The Last Known Stars
At night, the constellations flickered faintly overhead — but they were not the ones Aelira remembered. Strange new shapes. Ancient sigils long erased from common charts.
Ashar leaned over the railing, reading his spellmap aloud. "The stars here… they speak in reverse. Like the past is echoing forward."
Kaelen frowned. "Is that even possible?"
"In Skyglass," Ashar said, "everything is possible. Even the impossible."
Aelira stood alone at the prow, one hand resting lightly on the glowing crown at her brow.
She could feel it pulsing — not in warning, but in anticipation.
Something was waiting.
🕯 Whispers of the Mirror
Just before dawn, a glowing path appeared across the sea — not made of water, but of light. Thread-thin lines weaving a road into the heart of the horizon.
The Mirror King approached, silent.
"This is the Threadway," he said. "A road only those tied to the mirror can see."
"You were part of it once," Aelira said, not meeting his gaze.
"And may be again," he replied, his voice unreadable.
She turned to him. "Why haven't you asked what I'll do when we find the mirror?"
"Because I already know," he said.
"Do you?" she asked, eyes narrowing.
"You'll break it," he whispered. "Just like you always do."
A Heart Divided
Later, as the crew slept, Kaelen found Vaelen standing at the ship's stern, watching the waves.
"You've changed," Kaelen said quietly.
"So have you," Vaelen replied without turning. "You're not just her sword anymore. You're her home."
The silence stretched between them.
"Do you still love her?" Kaelen asked.
Vaelen's jaw tightened.
"I never stopped."
"Then what are you waiting for?" Kaelen asked.
"For her to choose," Vaelen said, finally facing him. "Not out of guilt. Not out of duty. But truth."
"She has chosen," Kaelen said, stepping closer. "She chooses every day. Not with words. With how she looks at you. And how she looks at me."
"And what do you see in her eyes when she looks at me?" Vaelen asked.
Kaelen sighed. "A storm."
The Mirror's Light
As the sun rose — though the sky never changed — the sea ahead split.
A tower emerged from the water, spiraling like glass, wrapped in stormlight. At its apex floated a mirror, untouched by time.
Aelira stepped forward.
"The final mirror," Ashar breathed. "It's real."
"It holds all the futures that could have been," Riven said, suddenly pale. "And all the ones still to come."
"And all the ones that should never be," Vaelen finished darkly.
Aelira's crown pulsed.
The path of light led directly to the mirror's base.
"Once I step into it," she said, "there's no turning back."
"We follow," Kaelen said, without hesitation.
"Even into the truth?" she asked.
"Especially into the truth."