Everything changed in a blink.
Rael took one step forward, and the world dissolved around him.
The forest was gone. The stones were gone. Maerin was gone.
He stood alone in a place made of shifting glass and black sky. There was no ground beneath him, yet he did not fall. Reflections swirled in every direction—endless versions of himself, flickering in and out of shape. Some younger. Some older. Some broken.
A voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere.
We do not need chains to hold you. Only your truth.
Rael turned slowly. One of the reflections stepped forward, separating from the others. It looked like him, but thinner. Paler. Weaker.
It smiled.
"You think you are strong," it said. "But you do not know what you are."
Rael frowned. "I know enough."
"You know pain. That is not the same."
The mirrored version walked closer.
"You lost your village. You lost your mother. You never had a father. You were never meant to awaken. You were meant to die forgotten."
Rael's chest tightened. The voice felt like a blade sliding under the ribs.
"I am still standing," he said.
The reflection tilted its head. "Are you? Or are you simply pretending you matter?"
Rael reached for his blood, but it did not answer.
The mirror twisted. Another version stepped out—this one taller, crowned in silver, eyes glowing like stars.
"You want to be him, don't you?" the crowned version asked. "The one who leads. The one who changes everything."
Rael's hand shook. He stepped back.
"I did not choose this."
The crowned figure laughed softly.
"No. But power does not ask."
A third figure stepped forward. This one was silent. Covered in ash. Its mouth was sewn shut with black thread. It bled from its wrists. It fell to its knees and looked up at Rael with empty eyes.
The voice returned.
You are the blood of many. You carry pain you have not earned. You walk paths that were not made for you. Are you strong enough to bear them?
Rael stood still.
The images flickered around him. Visions of failure. Of power twisted into ruin. Of cities burning because of his name.
"No," he whispered. "I do not know if I am strong enough."
The silence pulsed.
"But I will not run."
The light inside him stirred. Faint. Quiet. But alive.
He raised his hand.
The reflections shattered.
The sky bled white.
Rael fell through the mindscape.
And landed in the clearing, gasping.
Maerin was at his side instantly.
"You are back," he said. "You were only gone a minute."
Rael sat up slowly, covered in sweat. His voice was calm.
"I was gone longer than that."