Light consumed everything.
The assassins. The warehouse walls. Jarek's curses. All of it vanished in a flare so blinding it felt like thought itself had been burned to ash. My body screamed, brittle as glass stretched too thin, vibrating on the edge of breaking. Every vein burned, every breath scraped raw against my throat, and my heartbeat hammered like hammers in a cathedral of fire.
Then silence.
Not the kind of silence you hear in the city, broken by distant shouting or the rattle of wheels. This was absolute. Suffocating. The silence of a tomb waiting to be sealed shut.
I opened my eyes and realized I wasn't in the warehouse anymore.
We were somewhere that didn't exist.
Endless black stretched in every direction, thick and heavy like spilled ink. Suspended in the void were shards of glass, hundreds, maybe thousands, hanging as if the universe itself had shattered and forgotten to fall.
Each shard pulsed with life. Not mirrors, no. Windows. Wounds cut into reality itself.
I saw faces. Cities. Wars. Fire. Laughter. Death.
Children playing with wooden toys, their bright laughter piercing my bones. A battlefield soaked in blood, sky heavy with smoke. Towers of white stone gleaming in sunlight, collapsing in fire and ash, screams carried across shards like wind through broken glass.
And worst of all, in every shard, I saw myself.
Not one me. Dozens. Hundreds. A thousand different Aradias, carved by choices I hadn't made, paths I hadn't taken. Some were draped in silks, brows crowned with jewels. Others crawled in rags, broken and chained. Some held swords, some crowns, some were nothing but shadows with my eyes staring back.
All of them stared at me.
My stomach twisted. Nausea clawed up my throat.
"What is this?" My voice cracked. Too small. Too fragile.
Selene fell to her knees. Silk pooling like spilled ink, pendant pressed to her chest as if it were the only thing real in this place. Her lips trembled around her words.
The Glass Realm. We're inside it.
Jarek stood stiff beside me. His hand twitched near his sword, useless here. His jaw tightened as his eyes flicked over the shards, each glance half-expecting one to leap off and cut him down. Finally, he swore under his breath, fingers dragging through his hair.
"Well," he muttered, voice flat, dry, "that explains absolutely nothing."
Then the voice returned.
Not sound. Not exactly. A vibration through bone, a presence curling into the cracks of my skull.
Aradia.
I staggered, clutching my head. Stop saying my name like you own it.
The void didn't care.
Choose.
The shards moved.
Slowly at first, then impossibly fast. Circling around me, forming a great ring that pulsed with light. Each shard flickered glimpses of futures too fast to hold. A city bowing before me. A battlefield drowning in blood. A throne of glass crumbling beneath my feet. A hand reaching toward mine, then slipping away into shadow.
Selene's face turned pale. Her lips barely shaped the words she dared whisper.
It's giving you the paths. The futures you could shape.
I shook my head violently, teeth clenched, nails digging into my palms. I don't want this. I didn't ask for this.
The shards didn't care.
They spun faster. Their edges slicing the air, each breath cutting raw against my throat. My skin prickled, bleeding from wounds that weren't there.
Jarek's hand clamped on my arm, rough, grounding. Pulling me back to something real. His voice was low, steady—the only anchor in this madness.
Then don't choose. Screw the voice. Screw fate. We'll make our own way out.
For one heartbeat, just one, the shards hesitated. Like they actually heard him.
But then they surged closer. Razor-bright.
The ring of futures collapsed inward, glass spinning like blades ready to carve me open.
I screamed.
Not courage. Not defiance. Terror. Fury. A will refusing to be smothered.
I lashed out with everything inside me, raw, unshaped.
The realm broke.
Shards shattered outward, shrieking like a thousand voices. Splinters of futures ripped through the void, cutting, slicing, tearing. Selene shielded herself with the flare of her pendant. Jarek dragged me against him, bracing as the storm tore through everything.
Light swallowed all.
When the storm cleared, the void was gone.
The alley felt too small for the three of us. Rain, rot, ash pressing down. Tremors in my hands—I didn't know if it was fear, exhaustion, or both. Selene's whisper followed me:
It pulled us forward. Through time. Hours, maybe more. The realm doesn't stop. It doesn't wait.
But the city was wrong. I didn't need her voice to tell me that. Silence already had.
No merchants crying, no hawkers shoving fruit, no children laughing. Just the hiss of something burning.
The alley smelled first. Burnt meat, charred wood, smoke so thick it clawed at the back of my throat. My chest locked tight the moment the alley opened into the market square.
The market was gone.
What had been rows of crooked stalls bursting with color that morning was now a graveyard of ash and splintered wood. Blackened skeletons of carts leaned drunkenly over cobblestones scorched black. The stall I used to steal figs from was nothing but a heap of embers and twisted iron.
And the bodies.
Some still smoking. Some curled as if sleep had caught them mid-step. Others sprawled with glassy eyes staring, accusing, unblinking.
My stomach lurched. The weight of it pressed down like lead. I heard my own voice before I realized I was speaking.
This… this is my fault.
The words cracked like fragile glass.
Jarek was there in an instant, grip firm on my shoulder. No. This isn't you. This is them. His eyes held mine until I believed him for half a breath. But the guilt still curled like smoke in my chest.
Selene's voice cut through the haze, soft and sharp. No. The realm tested you. It gave you a choice. And you… you refused. This is the price.
I whirled on her, rage coiling tight in my chest. I never asked for shards. I never wanted visions or whispers telling me what to do. Don't you dare put this on me.
Her eyes didn't flinch. The pendant pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat I could feel in my chest. You can't escape it, Aradia. Not yet.
I wanted to scream, wanted to throw something, wanted to erase the world until it all went away. But all I could do was breathe fast, shaky, trying to remember how to live inside my own skin.
Then, movement.
Boots. Dozens. Heavy. Perfect rhythm. Not the shuffle of merchants, not the sloppy gait of thieves. Authority, discipline, power.
Jarek yanked me into shadow, pressing me flat against the wall. Stay quiet.
Through the smoke, they appeared—soldiers in gleaming white and silver, shields catching the dim light, spears angled like the teeth of some mechanical beast.
And Kael.
He moved at the front, statuesque and terrifying. Obsidian armor, sharp lines like a bird of prey mid-dive, helm shadowing his face. Every step felt like it left a mark on the city itself.
Selene's breath hitched. Lord Kael.
Jarek's lip twitched. Friend of yours?
She shook her head slowly. Enemy. The King's Warden. If he's here… then they already know.
I froze. They? Who's they?
She didn't answer. Just pressed a finger to her lips, pleading for silence.
Kael dismounted with grace that felt impossible, boots silent on the scorched stone. He walked among the corpses like furniture, head tilting slowly, lazily, cataloging the destruction.
His voice was calm. Almost casual. Burn it all. Leave no trace.
The soldiers obeyed instantly. Flames devoured what survived. Smoke stung my eyes, hot and unrelenting.
We pressed into the alley, hearts hammering. For a heartbeat, maybe two, I thought we might be safe.
Then Kael's head turned. Just slightly.
And I swore he looked straight at me.
Every nerve screamed. Run. Hide. Disappear. My lungs felt locked, my throat tight.
Then the faintest curve of his lips. A smile beneath the shadow of his helm.
He turned away. And walked on.
The soldiers followed, boots thundering like clockwork until the street emptied, leaving only fire, ash, and dread in their wake.
Selene slumped to her knees, trembling so hard her pendant clinked against her chest. He saw us. He knows.
Jarek's hand hovered near his sword. Let him know. I'll gut him like the rest.
I couldn't move. Couldn't even breathe. That smile stayed burned in my mind. Not amusement. Not anger. Pure control. Confidence.
The look of someone who always wins.
And suddenly, I realized—the shards. The Glass Realm. Kael. None of it might be separate. Not the voice in my head. Not the Warden in the streets.
Pieces of the same trap.
And we just stepped right into it.
The market square was a graveyard, black and smoking. Ash floated through the air, settling on broken cobblestones, on bodies, on the scorched remains of stalls I had once known. The silence after the soldiers left was heavier than any sound.
I drew a shaky breath. We're alive. Somehow, we're alive.
Jarek's hand stayed tight on my shoulder. Alive doesn't mean safe, he muttered, eyes scanning the empty streets. Every shadow now felt like a blade waiting to strike.
Selene knelt among the ashes, pendant glowing faintly. Her voice was small, trembling, but sharper than any steel. It pulled us forward. Through time. Hours, maybe more. The realm doesn't stop. It doesn't wait.
I wanted to laugh. Not a happy laugh. A bitter, dry laugh that left a bad taste in my mouth. Wonderful. Survived death twice, walked through a world of shards, screamed my lungs raw… and now the city itself is burned to ash. Fantastic.
Jarek noticed my expression and gave me one of those infuriating half-grins that said, At least you're not screaming like a baby.
I didn't bite. Not yet. My eyes were on Selene. Why did the realm show me that?
She looked up at me, eyes wide and haunted. It was a warning. A test. You didn't choose, but that defiance—it matters.
I clenched my fists. Defiance? I screamed and broke glass. That's my choice?
Selene's pendant pulsed faintly. Sometimes refusal is the only choice that counts.
I shook my head, tasting ash and frustration. You make everything sound so noble. So… predestined.
Jarek nudged me. Well, noble or not, we've got to keep moving. Kael's not done. Those soldiers aren't going to just forget us.
I followed his gaze down the empty streets. The smoke still curled, but the rhythm of boots—the threat—was gone. For now. For now.
Selene rose, brushing dust from her skirts. We need to find the next shard. The realm isn't done with you, Aradia. And when they do… Her words faltered, trembled, almost swallowed by fear. …you'll have to decide. Not just for yourself, Aradia. For everything that comes after.
I swallowed. Decide. Right. No pressure.
The city was empty now. Silent. Charred. Waiting.
And I had the distinct feeling that every shadow, every whisper, every shard was still watching.
Because in the end, the Glass Realm didn't just test me.
It marked me.
And whatever game Kael and the King's hand were playing… I was already on the board.
No rules. No safe moves. Only choices.
And the world was watching to see if I would break.