Chapter 75: The Returning Tide
The ascent was a slow, gentle unfurling, like a weed rising through water toward the sun. The crushing grief of the tower, the silent hunger of the void they fell away, replaced by a growing, buoyant pressure. The azure glow from the healed lock was a cool, guiding star behind them, but the true pull was the golden thread of Lyra and Aurora's presence, now thrumming with a triumphant, desperate love.
Elara felt the braid of their consciousness begin to differentiate. Kaelen's strand, solid and weary. Her own, frayed but humming with a profound, quiet completion. The echoes of Lyra's song and Aurora's trust remained woven through them, but they were becoming distinct people again, drawn back into their separate vessels.
The world resolved from a soup of meaning and emotion into physical sensation.
