~In her dreams:
Ren was laughing, chasing her baby boy across a sun-drenched plain, the air alive with joy. Ogain and Viva raced each other in the distance, Ogain's screech echoing, scaring chirping birds like music through the sky.
She glanced around, smiling. "Where's your dad?"
Her son's golden eyes met hers, gleaming with innocence.
"Daddy? He was never here, Mommy. Are you alright?"
Ren's heart jumped! What?
The warmth in the air shifted, suddenly and violently. The vibrant colors bled away, swallowed by a sky thick with chaos and smoke.
Alarmed, Ren snatched her son into her arms and sprinted toward Ogain.
"Kaisun!" she screamed his name into the thickening dark.
But instead of him, a swirling cloud of smoke gathered before her, shaping itself into the silhouette of a woman. It solidified, blocking her path. But her features were too blank for her to make out.
"Hello, Reneira."
