The light didn’t rush back all at once.It began as a pulse beneath the broken ground, a slow breath through the cracks where the dark had swallowed everything. Selene stood still, her hair lifting with the faint current of energy as it moved around her. Her chest rose and fell like she was afraid to exhale, afraid the fragile calm might shatter if she did.Kaelen watched her.The glow that wrapped her face wasn’t the same as before. It wasn’t the cold light of judgment or the sharp fire of defiance he had seen in her during the trials. It was warmer now, quieter. Almost human.He felt the pull of it deep in his chest, like something long dormant had stirred awake.The city around them was silent except for the faint hum rising from the fissures in the stone. Broken towers leaned against each other like weary sentinels. Above, the veil that had always hidden the stars began to thin, showing the faintest shimmer of real sky.Selene turned toward him.“Is it over?” she asked.Her voice

The air felt different now.It wasn’t clean or new. It carried the faint weight of ash, like the world remembered what it had lost. But there was wind again. And beneath their feet, the faint rhythm of earth breathing back to life.Selene took a step forward and felt the ground respond not solid yet, but forming with her movement, like the world was rebuilding itself through her will to keep walking.Kaelen followed quietly beside her. His presence still carried that stillness, that quiet control that had always made him feel both human and divine. But his gaze wasn’t empty anymore.He was watching. Studying every flicker of light, every tremor of shadow, like he was trying to understand how this new world was choosing to exist.The light ahead stretched thin across the sky, forming long streaks of pale gold and silver. It didn’t burn the darkness away this time. It blended with it a slow, hesitant truce between what had been and what had survived.Selene glanced up at him. “Do you th

The light didn’t just flash — it tore.It split the air open like the world was a sheet of thin fabric being ripped down the centre. Selene shielded her eyes, but the brightness didn’t feel like light. It felt like pressure, like something pushing into her chest and forcing the breath from her lungs.Kaelen stood unmoving.The flare broke around him instead of through him.When the light finally thinned enough to see, Selene lowered her hand — slowly, cautiously.The figure that had risen from the pool was no longer just a shape.It was someone.Not fully formed, not flesh, but more than memory. A body of light shaped like a human frame, flickering around the edges. Like it was still deciding what it wanted to be.Its face was incomplete — just smooth light — but she could feel it looking at her.Not with eyes.With recognition.Selene’s breath caught. “Who are you?”The figure didn’t answer. But the silence that followed felt… heavy. Heavy in the way grief is heavy. Heavy in the way

The light took time to settle after the voice faded. It lingered in the air like dust after a collapse, shining in faint trails that slowly sank back into the ground. The world felt quiet again, but it was not the same quiet as before. Something had changed. Something had been let in.Selene stood very still, her eyes fixed on the now calm pool. Her heartbeat had not slowed. Her hands were still tense, fingers slightly curled like she was ready to defend herself again if needed. The soft glow around her dimmed and steadied, settling close to her skin.Kaelen watched her. Not with concern. Not with a warning. Just with presence. He did not move toward her or away. He simply stood, the silence shaping itself around him.Selene finally exhaled.“It knew us,” she said quietly.Kaelen nodded once. “It remembers everything that was lost.”She swallowed. “And it asked why we left them behind.”“That question is not for you,” Kaelen told her. “It was speaking to me.”Selene turned to look at

The ground under their feet softened as they moved, the grass glowing faintly with each step. The air still felt new, like it had only just learned how to move through space. The trees were quiet, listening more than existing.Selene walked ahead with her eyes forward. She did not look back at the soul, but she could feel it. Its presence followed like a quiet warmth. Not heavy. Just there.Kaelen walked on the other side, silent but steady. His steps made no sound. They never did.The path they were on widened the longer they walked. The world was shaping itself around them, responding to every choice they made simply by moving through it.“Do all worlds begin like this?” the soul asked quietly.Selene shook her head. “No. Most are forced. Taken from something else. Rushed. This one is choosing itself.”The soul looked down at the glowing earth beneath its feet. “Because of me?”“Because of all of us,” Selene replied.Kaelen’s voice entered the space between them, low and certain. “B