The realm was still.
No stars above, no land beneath—only light dust swirling through a void of soft silver.
It felt like standing inside a breath never exhaled.
"I've never seen it like this," Riven said, his voice hushed, like a whisper would tear the place open again. "No echoes. No pull. It's like… everything's holding its breath."
Kael helped me to my feet. "Because it is. We've never been without the Loom before. Even chaos had its rhythm. Now we're in uncharted territory."
I could feel it too.
The silence wasn't peace.
It was potential.
My magic felt different now—no longer dragging threads from the Loom, but drawing from within me. As if I were no longer borrowing power, but becoming it. My emotions shaped it more than ever—love, fear, desire—they all held weight. With every step, the ground appeared beneath my feet. With every breath, a breeze stirred into existence.
"We have to be careful," I said slowly. "If this place follows our hearts, one wrong feeling could spiral everything out of control."
Riven raised an eyebrow. "Then let's hope none of us wake up cranky."
Kael gave a tired chuckle, but I didn't laugh.
Because I could feel it.
Something was wrong.
A thread, broken but pulsing, floated behind us like a shadow.
I turned—and there, in the distance, a tear opened in the silence. Just a flicker.
From it, a voice slipped through—not words, but something colder.
A presence.
Kael noticed it too. "Didn't we… destroy that thing?"
"We did," I said. "But we also unanchored reality. We didn't just erase fate—we created a void where something else could enter."
Riven looked pale. "So what? Something worse?"
"No," I said quietly.
"Something new."
The rift shimmered and snapped shut—but not before I caught a glimpse.
Eyes.
A pair of them.
Watching.
Waiting.
And smiling.
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