Aren expected death to feel cold.
Instead, she felt weightless.
The clouds wrapped around her like thick fog, warm and strangely soft. She tried to scream, but the sound was swallowed instantly. She couldn't see her hands, her feet — just endless white.
Then, suddenly, the fog thinned.
Aren burst through the clouds.
And froze.
Below her wasn't the empty wasteland everyone in Solis talked about.
It wasn't ash.
It wasn't darkness.
It wasn't dead.
It was a world.
Aren plunged toward an endless forest — treetops stretching out like an ocean of green. Rivers glittered like silver snakes. Ruins of ancient towers rose from the earth, wrapped in vines. She barely had time to gasp.
The fall ended all at once.
Something caught her.
Aren hit a surface that wasn't solid — but wasn't liquid either. It felt like a trampoline made of air. She bounced once, twice, and then rolled onto soft grass, coughing.
Grass. Real grass.
She lay there staring up through the cloud gap she'd fallen through.
The sky above looked the same… but somehow farther away.
The case rested beside her, completely silent now.
"Well," she wheezed, "either I'm dead… or I discovered the biggest lie in history."
She stood shakily, wiping dirt from her jacket. The forest around her buzzed with unfamiliar insects. Strange flowers glowed faintly at their centers. Air drifted through the trees, thick with the scent of something sweet.
She wasn't alone.
Branches snapped.
Aren tensed and grabbed the nearest stick — not a weapon, but better than nothing.
A figure stepped out from behind the trees.
A young man.
Dark cloak.
Messy black hair.
A sword strapped across his back.
Not the masked man — but clearly someone dangerous.
He looked at her with an expression that wasn't surprise.
More like… recognition.
"You survived the fall," he said quietly.
Aren swallowed. "Yeah. I tend to do that. Who are you?"
He hesitated. "Riven."
Just Riven. No last name. No explanation.
"And you're… Aren Kai."
Aren stiffened. "How do you know my name?"
Instead of answering, he nodded at the case.
"Because that thing has been calling for you since before you were born."
Aren clutched the case protectively. "You know what this is?"
He glanced around the forest, lowering his voice.
"I know what it holds. And I know the people coming for you won't stop. Not from above… not from below."
"Below?" she echoed. "There are people living down here?"
He stepped closer, eyes serious.
"There are people hiding everywhere."
A distant roar split the air — not an animal sound, but mechanical, metallic. Aren flinched as shadows passed over the treetops.
Flying machines — but not from Solis.
Riven grabbed her arm. "We need to move. Now."
"Why?"
He looked at her, eyes dark and certain.
"Because they followed you. And nothing down here hunts alone."