Three days passed since Kaela's betrayal.
The wound in my side was healing, but the one in my chest… not so much.
Elira barely left my side, but she barely spoke either. We were walking in silence more than talking. She was watching the sky too much—like she was expecting someone to fall from it.
On the third night, I saw her crying when she thought I was asleep.
---
We were resting in the Rift between worlds—a safe zone Elira called the Nullstream, where time stood still.
Well, "safe" was relative. The stars there blinked like eyes. Sometimes they whispered things I couldn't understand. But at least nothing was trying to kill us.
Yet.
"I'm not angry at her," I said quietly that night.
Elira didn't look up. She was sharpening her blade again.
"She stabbed you," she said, her voice cold.
"I know."
"She kissed you, then stabbed you."
"Okay, I know that too."
Silence.
"I just… I don't think she had a choice."
Elira finally turned to me, eyes flashing. "Everyone has a choice."
Her voice cracked. She stood up and walked off, deeper into the stars.
I let her go.
Some wounds can't be forced closed.
---
The next morning, Kaela returned.
She stepped out of a tear in space, her jacket torn, her face bruised, her expression unreadable.
Elira had her sword at her throat in half a second.
Kaela didn't flinch.
"I'm not here to fight," she said. "I'm here to fix what I broke."
"Why should we believe you?" Elira snapped.
Kaela looked at me.
"You don't have to," she said quietly. "Just follow me. There's something you need to see."
I nodded.
Elira didn't lower her blade. But she followed.
---
We stepped into the next Rift world.
It was called Lunareth—the World of Dreams.
Everything was soft light, floating islands, music that came from nowhere. The sky shimmered like a silk curtain, and every thought felt too real.
"This world reacts to your mind," Kaela explained. "Your fears. Your hopes. Your regrets. If you lose control of your emotions, it turns them into monsters."
I glanced at Elira.
Fantastic.
---
We made our way through the dreamscape toward a black tower rising in the middle of floating ruins. At the top was the next shard.
But the path twisted around us.
Suddenly, we were walking through a field of memories. Each flower whispered something we didn't want to hear.
"You'll never be enough," said one.
"She'll never love you back," said another.
"Your life is borrowed."
I kept walking, jaw clenched.
Then a figure stepped out from the mist.
Seraxion.
He was tall. Dressed in living shadows. No face—just a crown of glowing eyes around a skull of obsidian flame.
He didn't speak.
But we felt him in our minds.
> "Dreams are the easiest to poison… especially those who dream of love."
Elira stepped forward, glowing blade ready.
But she hesitated.
He turned his many eyes toward her.
> "You fear your heart more than your blade."
I reached for her hand.
But Kaela pulled me back. "Not now," she whispered. "He's testing her."
Elira was shaking.
> "You watched your world burn. You let him die. You think protecting this boy will undo it?"
She lunged forward, screaming.
Seraxion vanished like smoke.
Elira collapsed to her knees.
"Don't listen to him," I whispered, holding her. "He lies."
"No," she said, voice trembling. "He tells the truth."
---
We made it to the tower.
But it wasn't just guarded.
It was alive.
A nightmare creature with the body of a dragon, the face of Elira's dead brother, and the voice of Seraxion.
"Give me the Riftwalker," it hissed.
"No," Elira said.
"Then watch him die."
It struck.
We fought.
I was stronger now. My time-blade pulsed with more power. Kaela fought like a storm, her daggers blazing. Elira unleashed a fury I'd never seen before.
But it wasn't enough.
The creature struck me down with a roar—and Elira screamed.
Kaela moved.
Faster than I thought possible, she leapt between me and the final strike.
And took the blow.
---
Everything froze.
Kaela looked at me, blood pouring from her mouth.
"Guess I owed you one," she said with a crooked smile.
"No. No, no, no—"
She fell.
And didn't move.
---
The creature shrieked. Elira went silent.
Then she screamed.
Not a battle cry. A broken cry.
A pulse of starlight exploded from her, shattering the sky.
The nightmare burned into dust.
---
We buried Kaela in the dreamworld's garden of stars. Flowers bloomed around her even though no one planted them.
I left her dagger there. She would've hated that, but it felt right.
Elira didn't say a word the whole time.
---
That night, we sat under the twin moons.
"Did you love her?" she asked quietly.
"I don't know," I said. "But I think she loved both of us."
"I hated her," Elira whispered. "I hated her so much."
I looked at her. "Why?"
"Because she made you laugh when I couldn't. Because she saw the parts of you I was too scared to face. Because... she made me realize I'm in love with you."
My heart stopped.
She was crying again. "I'm in love with you, Jin. And I'm terrified of it."
I didn't say anything. I just reached out.
And this time, she let me kiss her.
Not like Kaela.
Not desperate or chaotic.
Just real.
Just us.
---
Somewhere far beyond, Seraxion stood before a rift mirror, watching us.
> "Let them fall in love," he whispered. "Love makes the pain sweeter when it breaks."
And then he turned to a shadowy figure beside him.
> "Wake the next one. The one who remembers everything."
The shadow nodded.
> "Yes… my lord."