The Dream Realm – Echoes of Before
Ashrel stood before the Wound Between Worlds, surrounded by a sea of unformed memory.
He hadn't slept since the duel.
Not because he was injured—but because he remembered.
And remembering hurt more than any blade.
---
Before the Hollowing
He was once the golden flame of the Dawn Court—Ashrel Vael, captain of the Flameguard, protector of the queen and her people. His laughter could calm storms. His hands healed as often as they burned.
He had loved.
Truly.
Not the warped loyalty he now felt for Vaelira—but a woman named Elyse, a flame-singer, with hair like cinders and eyes that shone whenever she laughed.
And she had died—in his arms, during the first siege.
Killed by Hollow corruption… that had infected him first.
---
The Choice
The day Ashrel died, Vaelira begged him not to fight.
She begged him to stay, to run, to live.
But he went anyway—head held high, blade blazing, heart shattered.
He thought it would be an honorable end.
Instead, when he opened his eyes, it was to Vaelira's voice, summoning him back from the void.
"You are mine now."
He screamed as the Hollow fire entered his soul—not because it hurt.
But because in that moment, he knew Elyse was truly gone, and he could never join her.
He had become a weapon.
And then… a ghost.
---
Now
Ashrel's hand trembled as he conjured the last memory—a vision of Elyse, smiling as she sang fire into light. The same light that Seris now used. The same warmth Ashren still clung to.
It wasn't just his past.
It was hope.
And for the first time in centuries, Ashrel whispered into the dream:
"Forgive me."
A tear—not flame, but real—fell from his cheek.
And somewhere far beyond the veil, Elyse's voice answered.
"Then save him."
---
Back in the Present
Ashrel awoke, breath hitching, eyes wide. The Hollow flame within him had not vanished—but it dimmed, like a monster unsure of its master.
He rose from the black stone bed, turning away from the Queen's mirror.
There was still time.
Ashren could be saved.
But to do that… Ashrel would have to betray the only creature who had ever loved him enough to defy the gods.
---
The Queen's Warning
Vaelira felt it.
The shift.
The memory.
The weakening.
She turned toward Ashrel's chamber, eyes glowing with ancient fury.
"You remember," she whispered.
Her reflection sneered.
"And you will regret it."