The rain hadn't stopped since the moment Aeris unleashed her scream.
Not thunder, not wind, not even the darkness could match the sound of it — raw, guttural, ancient. A sound not just of grief, but awakening. The world had heard it. The realm had heard it. Even the veil between worlds quivered in its aftermath.
And now, they stood in silence.
Kael's cloak dripped crimson. He knelt beside Liam's motionless form, hand trembling as it hovered above Liam's chest, unsure whether to touch, to press, to hope. A faint pulse. Weak. But there.
"He's breathing," Kael muttered, half to himself.
Nyra stumbled forward, her hands shaking, blood smeared across her robes from summoning earlier. "The shard—it's gone," she whispered. "The monster shattered it when it lashed out. I saw it… disappear."
Aeris didn't move. Her eyes were fixed on the trail of black smoke rising into the gray sky. The creature they fought wasn't merely an enemy — it was a sentinel. A warning.
Or a test.
"Help me with him," Kael said, snapping back to action. "We need to move. If another like that comes, we won't survive it."
Nyra nodded and bent beside him, focusing her magic into healing threads. They stitched the surface wounds on Liam's arms and chest, but something deeper — something inside — refused to mend.
"He took the blow meant for me," Aeris finally said, voice like stone ground against metal.
Kael didn't look up. "He always does."
The rain began to shift — not lessen, but shimmer. It sparkled in the air, taking on hues of faint violet and silver. Nyra looked up, eyes widening. "Something's changing. The tear between worlds is still open... but it's not stable."
That's when Liam's body jolted.
His back arched, and a breath tore from his throat — ragged, choking, half scream, half silence. His eyes flew open.
But they weren't his.
A deep gold had bled into the whites, threads of black spiraling toward the center. His irises flickered between his usual gray and something ancient.
"Liam?" Aeris reached for him.
He didn't respond — not with words. Instead, he stared at her… then past her… and whispered:
"I remember fire. And a voice like ice. You were not meant to find me."
And then, he collapsed.
They carried Liam to the edge of the woods that bordered the city below. It was an abandoned village — remnants of Realm-linked settlements that had long since been swallowed by the mundane world. Cracked buildings, moss-eaten signs, and the faint traces of old runes carved into wood long forgotten.
Aeris gently placed Liam on a dry corner of a ruined temple. Nyra sat beside him, carefully pressing an enchanted cloth to his forehead.
"What did he mean?" Kael asked, pacing. "That voice — it wasn't him."
Aeris sat still, gripping the now-dim crystal that had brought them here. "I think… I think part of the fragment is inside him. Or… maybe always was."
Kael frowned. "You think he's a vessel?"
"No," Nyra answered. "I think he's the key."
A long silence stretched between them.
Finally, Aeris spoke. "We're not just here to find protectors. We're here to awaken what was buried. Maybe Liam… maybe he's always been a bridge between both worlds. Not just someone who stumbled into this."
Kael clenched his fists. "Then we need to keep moving. Find the first protector. Someone has to have answers."
Aeris nodded. "The old maps said there's a man — a healer, long exiled — who settled in this region. They called him The Ember Sage."
Nyra's breath caught. "I've heard that name. My grandmother used to speak of him in old realm stories. Said he was once Elira's mentor."
Kael raised a brow. "Then why did he leave the realm?"
Aeris looked toward the horizon, the rain finally easing into mist. "Because he knew something. Something that scared even the Elders."
They reached the village outskirts by nightfall.
The city they approached wasn't the bustling, modern sprawl of Liam's childhood. It was the outskirts of a ruined metropolis — one struck by a calamity decades ago. A city hidden behind government walls and rumors, cordoned off after mysterious disappearances and inexplicable events. No one came in. No one left.
Until now.
They crossed through broken fences, shielded by Nyra's magic. Liam was conscious again, but distant — like part of him hadn't returned fully. He walked with them, quiet, fingers twitching like they were trying to remember how to move.
They passed through a collapsed marketplace when Aeris stopped, holding up her hand.
Kael drew his blade. "Something wrong?"
Aeris turned. "We're not alone."
A shadow moved between the stalls.
Then another.
Dozens of them.
Figures emerged — cloaked in tattered robes, eyes glowing faintly violet, similar to the crystal Aeris had used. Their faces were hidden, but something about their presence felt… familiar.
One of them stepped forward.
He removed his hood.
He was old. Human. And yet not.
His eyes shimmered with realmfire, and his presence radiated a strange warmth.
"You carry the weight of two fragments," he said, voice rich and deep. "And you cross into cursed soil to find what was lost."
Kael tensed. "Who are you?"
The man smiled. "I am called many things. But once, long ago, Elira called me Master Veyrion — before she walked into fate's trap."
Aeris stepped forward, hand instinctively reaching toward Liam. "You knew her?"
"I taught her. Loved her like a daughter. Then I watched her burn trying to save a world that never deserved her." His voice cracked. "And now… she calls for you, doesn't she?"
Liam looked up, eyes flickering. "In dreams."
Master Veyrion studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Then time is shorter than I thought."
He turned toward the others. "Come. You're not safe in the open. The Eye watches this land."
They followed him through winding paths, deeper into the ruins, until they reached a hidden sanctuary — a circle of trees glowing with soft bioluminescent runes, protected by ancient enchantments.
"You were right to come," Veyrion said, once they were inside. "But you must understand — the fragments you carry are not just pieces of a spellbook. They are memories. Souls. Sentient shards of what once held the balance between the worlds."
Nyra leaned forward. "But if they're alive… then why would they let themselves be scattered?"
Veyrion's face darkened. "Because they had no choice. They were shattered. By something darker than even Nytherion."
Liam stiffened. "Nytherion… is he truly the villain?"
Veyrion sighed. "He was not. Once, he was a guardian. A loyal one. Elira's heart belonged to him. But something found him. Corrupted him. Took his grief and turned it into rage."
Aeris frowned. "What corrupted him?"
Veyrion looked up, toward the swirling stars beyond the veil. "We never knew its name. But it watched us even when the sky was bright. It waits. Even now."
Silence fell again.
Kael looked around. "So what now?"
Veyrion stood. "Now? Now you rest. For tomorrow, I take you to the place where the third fragment sleeps."
He turned to Liam.
"And maybe… unlock what sleeps inside you as well."