The Memory That Burns
The light from the Lantern poured into Mira like a flood through a shattered dam. It didn't blind her—it revealed. Every part of her mind, every piece of her soul was laid bare and filled.
She saw the First Tree, not as a sapling, but as a star falling to the world, roots piercing the void to drink from the Between. She saw the Keepers' true purpose—not guardians, but anchors, tethering the world to a balance that had never been stable to begin with.
And she saw Caelen again. Not the man she had faced, but the boy he had been—lonely, gifted, and cast aside by elders too afraid to hear the truth. The Between had spoken to him first. He had tried to listen, and when no one believed him, he had broken the world to force them to see.
The light faded. The Lantern closed.
Mira collapsed to her knees, gasping, her hands trembling. Lena caught her.
"What did you see?" she asked.
"Not just past," Mira whispered. "Future. Possible futures. Ones where the Between isn't feared, but woven into the world. But every path… ends in fire unless something changes."
Behind them, the glacier shuddered. Cracks raced up its walls, glowing from within.
"We need to go," Elric said.
As they fled the hollow, the glacier behind them began to fall inward, not like melting ice—but like an old memory finally released. When they emerged into the cold daylight, only a frozen lake remained. The Lantern was gone.
But something had followed them out.
From the center of the lake, a figure rose—cloaked in shadow, wrapped in broken time. Its form flickered like a flame in the wind, never still, never full.
"Mira," it said, and its voice was many. "You've seen the paths. You've seen the truth. Now you must choose."
Elric stepped between them, sword drawn.
"Don't," Mira said, laying a hand on his arm. "It's not here to fight."
The figure extended a hand. "The world is waking. Not all will survive it. But you can shape what comes next. Come with me."
"And if I don't?"
"Then another will. And the paths you saw will close."
Mira looked to her friends—Lena's calm resolve, Elric's guarded strength, Bram's silent understanding.
"I'll go," she said.
The figure nodded. "Then step beyond."
Together, they vanished into mist, leaving echoes in the air and a silence that held the weight of changed