The three of them, Mae, Ashar, and Riven, walked deeper into the hills beyond the restored castle grounds, where shimmering grass grew thick between cracks of obsidian-like stone, and the air shimmered faintly with the last remnants of what used to be a broken world. Ashar was ahead, moving silently through the trees, checking terrain, scanning for anything alive, or dangerous. Riven hung back beside Mae, more alert than he let on, his usual humor muted under a quiet tension.
For a while, they walked in silence. Then Riven said, softly, "You know, I didn't even want to be at that auction." Mae glanced sideways. "Then why were you there?"
He gave a half-laugh. "Ashar was curious. Not like, hey let's buy a slave curious, but curious about why the Council put that kind of price on someone they said was 'defective.' He was already suspicious." He shrugged. "I was just bored." She raised a brow. "And now?" Riven exhaled. "Now I'm, less bored." Mae smiled faintly.
But his voice dropped more serious. "At first, I was just gonna mess with you. Flirt. Be the jackass. You were tiny, dangerous, pissed off, and cute when you glared." He looked down at the soil as they walked. "But the second I saw you on that platform, I didn't want to play anymore." Mae slowed slightly. "I didn't even understand it then," Riven continued, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just knew something cracked open in me. Something that felt, like home. Like I was meant to stand beside you. Not in front. Not behind. Beside."
Mae stopped. Riven nearly kept walking before realizing she wasn't next to him anymore. He turned. She was staring at him with that deep, unreadable gaze that always made him feel like he wasn't wearing enough armor. "Riven," she said softly, "you don't have to panic."
"I'm not panicking," he said too quickly. "You are," she replied, stepping forward. She reached out and gently took his hand. "And if you do, I will too. And frankly, I don't think either of us would survive that emotional mess." That made him laugh, quiet and unsteady. "I don't know how any of this is supposed to work," Mae added, "but after everything we've seen, I don't think it's going to lie to me."
Her hand was warm in his. His thumb brushed over hers without thinking. Then Riven leaned in. Not rushed. Not reckless. Like something pulling him forward that he couldn't stop. His face was inches from hers. Breath caught. Eyes flicking to her lips.
And then, he stopped. Pulled back. Let her hand go. "Shit. Sorry." He laughed awkwardly, stepping back like he was trying to outrun his own heartbeat. "That wasn't, I mean, that was the damn vision talking. Got me thinking I'm some epic cosmic dad or whatever."
Mae blinked, surprised, and maybe a little disappointed. He kept talking, flustered. "We see one little future and suddenly I'm trying to make it real like I'm the romantic lead in some tragic hero arc-" Mae crossed her arms. "Riven." He shut up immediately. She looked at him for a long moment, then smiled gently. "Next time, don't apologize unless you mean it." He opened his mouth. Then he closed it. Then nodded, more serious now. "Got it."
From up ahead, Ashar's voice echoed faintly through the trees: "Found something." They both turned toward the sound. But before they moved, Mae reached out again, just briefly, and brushed her fingers across his. Not a kiss. Not a confession. Just enough to say: I heard you. I'm still here. And it was enough. For now. When Mae and Riven caught up to Ashar, he stood on the edge of a natural basin in the land, where the obsidian ground had cracked and dipped inward, forming a wide hollow surrounded by jagged silver-edged stones.
Ashar didn't turn to greet them. He was staring ahead, muscles tense, one hand resting loosely on the hilt of his weapon, but not drawn yet. "What is it?" Mae asked, coming up beside him. Ashar finally spoke, voice low. "Something didn't reset right."
Before them, nestled in the center of the basin, was a structure. Not part of the castle. Not built by any of the Fallen. It looked like a ruin, but not ancient. It hadn't been there when Mae reshaped the land. She would've felt it.
And yet… there it stood. A crooked tower of pale black stone, humming faintly with wrongness. The runes etched across its broken surface shimmered in colors that shouldn't exist, red-violet and green-white light crawling like veins. Time felt, thin here. Like something still cracked just below the surface. Ashar stepped closer.
"This is Whisperstone." Riven frowned. "That's a myth." Ashar didn't reply. His eyes were locked on the tower.
"Whisperstone was the first place the Veydrin ever sealed away broken gods," he said quietly. "The ones we couldn't kill. The ones who didn't belong." Mae felt a coldness brush against her skin. "Sealed away how?" she asked. Ashar's eyes flicked to her, heavy with meaning. "In stasis. In fractured time. Trapped between dimensions. Not dead. Not asleep." Riven paled slightly. "So, what's it doing here?" Ashar's jaw tightened. "I don't know. But it shouldn't be. Not in this reality. Not in this plane."
Mae looked back at the ruin.
The longer she stared, the more it stared back. And somewhere, deep inside it.
She swore she heard a whisper. Just one word. "Return." Ashar immediately stepped in front of her, like he heard it too. "No one goes inside," he said flatly. "Not without me. Not ever alone." Riven was already backing away. "Yeah, no problem. I like my sanity unshattered, thanks." But Mae kept staring. Not because she wanted to.
Because something inside her knew, this wasn't a mistake. It was waiting.