The wound left by Vorthen had not closed.
It burned beneath the surface of the world—like a crack in reality, whispering promises and threats. Wherever Serelith walked, the air felt thinner. Like the veil had thinned permanently.
But deeper still, something else stirred.
The gods were watching again.
---
They reached the river-city of Elraen, hidden beneath the canopy of a silverwood forest, where branches carried floating lamps and bridges of light stretched between trees older than the sky.
Here, Faelan had once walked as an emissary of the Hollow Queen.
Now, they entered as traitors.
And still, the people bowed.
Not in fear.
In hope.
---
The river-priests, keepers of forgotten lore, led Serelith to the heartspring—the sacred mirror pool that revealed truths unspoken.
She knelt, touching the water with trembling fingers.
The Codex awakened.
A voice, not her own, but within her.
> "You were not made to obey.
You were shaped to break the cycle.
And in your breaking, the world remembers."
A shimmer in the water—her reflection not as she was, but cloaked in gold fire, eyes like stars falling backward.
Faelan stood behind her in the image.
But older.
A scar across his cheek.
A crown in his hand.
Not on his head.
In his hands.
Held toward her.
---
Later, when the pool had gone still, Faelan found her sitting alone beneath a weeping tree.
"You saw it," she said.
He nodded. "I think I've always seen it. I just didn't want to say it aloud."
> "That I'm meant to rule?"
> "That you're meant to undo what they called ruling."
They sat in silence.
Then Serelith asked quietly, "When you first saw me… why did you follow?"
He didn't answer at first.
Then, with soft certainty:
> "Because I saw a girl trying not to fall apart. And I knew if I let her go, I'd never forgive myself."
She turned to him.
Eyes darker than midnight, lips parted with a thousand words she couldn't say.
But she didn't need to.
She kissed him.
It wasn't desperate.
It wasn't stolen.
It was clear—as if the world had finally fallen quiet enough for them to hear what had always been there.
---
That night, the stars burned brighter.
And somewhere far beyond the veil, an ancient god stirred.
He opened his eyes.
And for the first time in an age, he spoke her name.
> "Serelith."
The echo passed through the realms like thunder through dreams.