The light from the Gate swallowed them whole.
It was not painful, nor even blinding—just overwhelming. Like being wrapped in the warmth of memory and carried through a current of ancient threads that pulsed with time, memory, and things even older than both. Liam felt his body weightless, and for a heartbeat, he thought he heard voices—whispers of forgotten truths—slipping past his ears.
Then, with a gasp, he landed.
Air slammed back into his lungs, and the scent of asphalt, city smoke, and distant fast food assaulted his senses.
Liam blinked.
They were standing on a rooftop. A crumbling, abandoned parking complex overlooking the skyline of a city he knew all too well—his city. Neon buzzed faintly below. Cars rumbled. The distant wail of a siren cut through the night.
They were back.
Aeris was the first to rise beside him, her expression unreadable. She looked thinner somehow—less ethereal, more grounded. As if returning to Earth had weighed her down.
"This place," she whispered, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "I had almost forgotten what it smelled like."
"You've been here before," Liam said quietly. "Haven't you?"
Aeris turned to him. For a moment, she didn't speak.
Then, finally, "Yes. A long time ago. Before I even knew who I really was."
Kael stood behind them, rotating his shoulder and wincing. "So this is Earth. Smells... awful."
Nyra clutched the straps of her summoner's pouch tightly as her eyes darted across the strange urban skyline. "Where are the forests? The stars?"
"They traded stars for skyscrapers," Liam said. "And silence for noise."
The group moved carefully, descending the rusted stairs of the old complex. Liam's boots hit concrete with an odd sense of déjà vu. He'd dreamt of returning home before—but never like this. Never with a gate behind him and two warriors and a summoner at his side.
And never with this weight in his chest.
City of Ghosts
As they reached street level, the change became more apparent.
Lights flickered overhead. Storefronts were boarded up. Graffiti sprawled across the walls—messages scrawled in desperation or warning. It wasn't just a city at night—it was a city on the brink.
Something had changed.
"This isn't how it used to be," Liam muttered.
Aeris frowned. "Time doesn't flow the same between worlds. We were gone longer than you think."
They walked past a burned-out pharmacy, its windows shattered. Across the street, a homeless man stared blankly at them, then hurried away, muttering something about "the eyes in the clouds."
"Are we sure this is your world?" Kael asked, hand still near his blade.
"It is," Liam said, heart tightening. "But it's different."
A static hum filled the air.
Then, a tremor rolled beneath their feet.
Not an earthquake.
A pulse.
Liam froze. "That... felt familiar."
Aeris stepped ahead, closing her eyes. "It's not just the Gate that followed us through," she said softly. "Something else slipped in."
They weren't alone.
Return to the Apartment
They reached Liam's old apartment building by dawn.
Most of it had been abandoned—vandalized, wrecked. But miraculously, the door to Liam's floor still creaked open.
Inside, dust coated every surface. His old couch. The table where he once ate cheap dinners. A cracked television. A bookshelf now housing only shattered glass and burned pages.
He stepped forward slowly, like approaching the ghost of himself.
"This was my home," he said, voice barely a whisper. "Where it all started."
Nyra sat down cautiously on the old couch, rubbing her arms. "It feels... wrong. Off. Like something is watching."
"It is," Aeris replied.
Liam turned to her. "You keep knowing things before we do."
She looked away. "Because I've already walked this road once."
"Tell me everything," he said, stepping forward.
She didn't answer immediately. Then she sat, her fingers tracing the edge of the table.
"I came here years ago. Before I had a name. Before I knew what the Mirrorbound was. I was pulled here after a rift opened in my world—just a small tear back then. I survived. But I was alone. No allies. No spellbook fragments. No truth. So I wandered... and I listened."
She looked at Liam.
"And then I was sent back."
"By who?" Nyra asked.
Aeris hesitated. "That... I don't remember. Not fully. But I was told one thing: the spellbook has seven fragments. And each fragment is tied not just to a world, but to an emotion. A memory. A moment in time."
Liam frowned. "We have one. Six more?"
"Five," Aeris said softly. "We passed another fragment's trial when we faced the Gate."
"What?" Kael blinked. "We didn't pick anything up."
"You didn't have to," Aeris said. "The toll we paid... it was a trial. The second fragment is already within us."
A silence fell across the room.
Two down.
Five to go.
Whispers in the Sky
That night, as the city lights flickered and faded, Liam stood on the fire escape, staring at the skyline.
He could feel it.
A hum beneath his skin. A pull.
The fragment here was near—but it wasn't dormant.
Something else hunted it.
Something twisted.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. Aeris.
She didn't speak at first, only stood beside him, staring out at the glowing haze of the city.
"I saw something in my vision," she said softly. "In the Gate."
Liam looked at her. "What?"
"Nytherion. But... not as he is now. As he was. Before everything fell apart."
"And?"
Aeris's voice trembled. "He wasn't the monster then. He was someone who wanted to protect the balance—until something tore that away from him."
Liam turned to her. "Do you think he can be saved?"
"I don't know," she whispered. "But if he can't… then we have to stop him."
She looked up at him, eyes glimmering in the city lights.
"And if the next fragment really is here, Liam... we won't be the only ones looking for it."
From above, the clouds cracked—just slightly—and a soft, crimson glow bled through.
A storm was coming.
And this time, it would strike Liam's world first.