Rielun's POV:
Light.
That was the first thing he knew.
Not warmth.
Not sound.
Not breath.
Just light — soft and gold and endless, like the world had been remade from it.
Then came the weight.
His body.
His limbs.
His chest rising in a slow, trembling breath.
He gasped.
Air rushed in, sharp and cold, filling lungs that felt too big, too new, too unfamiliar. His fingers twitched against something warm — roots, soft and pulsing with life.
He blinked.
The world swam into focus.
A canopy of silver leaves.
A pool of glowing water.
Faces hovering above him — wide‑eyed, terrified, hopeful.
Aeris.
Noctis.
Rowan.
And—
His gaze dropped.
Sylas lay collapsed beside him, chest rising shallowly, green‑gold light fading from his skin.
Rielun's heart lurched.
He tried to sit up, but his body felt wrong — heavier, longer, older. His hands weren't the hands he remembered. His arms were stronger. His legs stretched farther beneath him.
He looked down at himself.
He wasn't the small, fragile boy he remembered being.
He was older.
The age he had been when he—
A flash.
Moonlight.
A scream.
A guardian's hand reaching too late.
Pain lanced through his skull.
He clutched his head with both hands, breath hitching. "Stop— stop— I can't—"
Aeris dropped to his knees beside him. "Rielun— hey, hey, look at me— breathe—"
Noctis hovered behind him, shadows trembling like they didn't know who to protect first.
Rowan, pale and sweating from his own injuries, leaned heavily on a cracked pillar. "He's awake… gods, he's actually awake…"
Rielun forced his eyes open.
"Why… why am I— older?"
Aeris swallowed hard. "Because that's… that's how old you were when you died."
The word hit him like a blow.
Died.
He remembered pieces — flashes — but they slipped through his fingers like water.
"I don't… I don't remember," Rielun whispered. "I don't remember anything."
A soft voice answered.
"You remember enough."
Elias stepped forward, exhaustion etched into every line of his face, but his eyes were steady — bright with prophecy-light and relief.
Rielun stared at him. "You… know me."
"Yes," Elias said gently. "I've known you across lifetimes."
Rielun's breath trembled. "Then tell me. Tell me what happened."
Elias knelt beside him, careful, reverent.
"You died when the moon severed its bond to the Hollow. Your soul fell like a tear into the world. You were reborn without memory — a teardrop reborn. And now… you've returned to the age you were when your soul last broke."
Rielun's throat tightened. "But I don't feel whole."
"You are whole‑souled," Elias said softly. "But memory is not the same as soul. Some pieces will return. Some may never."
Rielun looked at Sylas again — unconscious, still, drained.
"Did he… save me?"
Elias nodded. "He gave everything the forest would allow."
Aeris wiped his eyes. "He wouldn't let you go."
Noctis crossed his arms, voice rough. "And now he's out cold, Rowan's half‑dead, and the Hollow is still sniffing around the edges of this place."
Rowan winced but nodded. "We can't stay here. The sanctuary's cracked. It won't hold long."
Elias stood, steadying himself. "We need to move them. All of them."
Rielun tried to rise — his legs shook violently, but Aeris caught him.
"You're not carrying anyone," Aeris said firmly. "You just came back from— from whatever that was."
Rielun's gaze drifted to Sylas again.
"I want to help."
"You will," Elias said. "But not yet. First, we get everyone out of the sanctuary before the Hollow finds its way in."
A low rumble echoed through the glade — the sound of the sanctuary's barrier weakening.
Noctis cursed under his breath. "Too late. It's already starting."
Elias turned to Rielun, voice urgent but gentle.
"Can you walk?"
Rielun swallowed hard.
He didn't know.
He didn't know anything.
But he nodded.
"I'll try."
Aeris slipped under one arm. Noctis under the other. Rowan limped ahead to scout the path. Elias moved to Sylas, lifting him with surprising strength.
The sanctuary groaned again.
Rielun looked back at the glowing pool, the roots, the spiraling remnants of light.
His first breath in this new life.
His first step into a future he didn't remember.
And behind him, the sanctuary cracked open.