Serya had not left her quarters since Kael's return. She slept in fits, ate barely, sat near the window staring at the gardens. The visions still came, in waves, like memories that weren't hers.
But this time, it wasn't a vision.
It was a memory.
A clear, precise, brutal memory.
She stood in a human library, years earlier. The air smelled of old paper, wax, dust. Shelves rose to the ceiling. She wore a dark dress, a veil over her hair. She wasn't there as a general of the Neverdie Realm. She was there as a scholar—curious, hungry for knowledge.
The book lay on an oak table.
It was thick, bound in black leather, no title on the cover. Only an ancient rune, half-erased, glowed faintly.
She had opened it.
And she had read.
The spell was called Golden Cage.
A mental imprisonment spell. Not a curse. Not an illusion. A cage. A construction of the mind, designed to trap a victim's consciousness in a coherent, almost perfect dream.
She remembered the details. The book was very precise.
The Golden Cage operated in three phases.
First: isolation. The victim's mind was separated from their body, from their bearings, from their certainties. Second: reconstruction. The spell built an inner world, often from the victim's memories. A coherent, credible world in which the mind could lose itself. Third: closure. The cage sealed itself, and the dream became the only reality.
If the victim was mentally weak, they fell asleep forever. A peaceful sleep, without suffering. A gentle death.
But if the mind was strong, the cage didn't hold.
The dream became incoherent. Cracks appeared. Anomalies. Voices. Creatures. Distorted memories. The mind fought back, and the cage shattered.
That was Kael's case.
Serya had woken with a start, her heart pounding.
She stood, legs trembling.
"Golden Cage," she murmured.
She rushed to the study. Kael was there, bent over the map.
"Serya?"
"I found it."
"Found what?"
"The spell. The one Elara used on you."
Kael straightened.
"How?"
"I read it. Years ago. In a human library. A forbidden book."
"And you remember it now?"
"Yes. As if the memory unlocked itself."
"What does it say?"
Serya sat down, hands trembling.
"The spell is called Golden Cage. It's a mental imprisonment. It traps the mind in a coherent dream."
"I know. I lived it."
"But there's something else. The book described side effects."
"What side effects?"
"The cage is a door."
Kael froze.
"A door?"
"Yes. While the mind dreams, the cage remains open to another dimension. An unstable dimension, made of remnants of dreams, broken thoughts, creatures born of the void."
"The shadows," Kael murmured.
"Yes. The shadows Osskar and Lyssa spoke of."
"They come from there?"
"They take advantage of the door. As long as it remains open, they can pass through."
"But my dream is over. The cage shattered."
"It shattered, yes. But the door remained."
"Why?"
"Because the spell wasn't fully closed. Not completely."
Kael ran a hand over his face.
"So I'm still connected to that dimension."
"Yes. And as long as that door exists, the shadows will come."
"How do we close it?"
"I don't know. The book didn't say."
"Maybe it did, but you don't remember."
"Perhaps."
"Then find that memory. Search. It's vital."
Serya nodded.
"I'll try."
"Not try. Do."
"Alright."
Kael turned to the window. The sky was dark, crossed by black clouds.
"If the shadows come from that dimension, then my dream wasn't an accident. It was an open door."
"Yes."
"And Elara knew it."
"Perhaps."
"Or perhaps not."
"The book was forbidden. Few knew of it."
"Then how did she find it?"
"Good question."
Kael clenched his fists.
"We need to know."
"Yes."
"And we need to close that door."
"Yes."
"Otherwise, the kingdom will be overrun."
Serya stood.
"I'll dive back into my memories. And into the palace libraries. We might have texts on the Golden Cage."
"I'll help you."
"No. You're the king. You must defend the kingdom."
"And you?"
"I am the memory. I must recover what was forgotten."
Kael looked at her.
"You've become my general again."
"No. I've become myself again."
She left.
Kael remained alone, his heart heavy.
The Golden Cage was not just a spell. It was a door. And that door was still open.
Somewhere in the shadows, creatures waited.
And they knew that Kael's dream had fed them.