Ren didn't rise for a long time.
He stayed in Lyra's arms, breath shallow, skin cold, eyes unfocused.Not unconscious—caught between the fading echo of the dreamand the world that tried to pull him back.
Lyra stroked his hair with trembling fingers.
"Ren… please say something."
He swallowed.
His voice cracked.
"I heard them."
Borin stepped closer, jaw clenched.
"You mean the sealed one."
Ren nodded faintly.
"They warned me."
Draven peeked over Borin's shoulder.
"ABOUT WHAT?! ABOUT WHAT DID THEY WARN YOU?! PLEASE DON'T SAY SOMETHING TERRIBLE—"
Ren's eyes drifted toward the roots twisting beneath the earth.
"About what happens to someone who tries to carry the echo alone."
Lyra's hands tightened around him.
"Ren. You're not alone."
His breath trembled.
"That's the only reason I'm still me."
Lyra froze.
Borin exchanged a look with her—one of concern he didn't dare speak aloud.
The forest rustled in a way that felt like breath, like sorrow.
Ren pushed himself upright.
Slowly.Shakily.
Lyra stayed close, supporting him.
"Ren, what did the sealed one want from you?"
Ren wiped at his eyes—he wasn't crying, but his lashes were wet with something older and heavier.
"They wanted me to turn back."
Lyra swallowed.
"And… why didn't you?"
Ren's expression dimmed.
"Because someone else will come after me if I do."
Draven squeaked.
"NO. NO MORE PEOPLE. NO MORE ECHO-HAVERS. LET'S JUST—JUST CLOSE EVERYTHING FOREVER."
Ren looked down at his trembling hands.
"The echo isn't a curse," he whispered."It's a call."
Borin frowned.
"A call to what?"
Ren didn't answer right away.
He reached toward the seal.
Not to touch it.
To acknowledge it.
Then he spoke softly:
"To become something the world isn't ready for."
Lyra grabbed his arm again, fear spiking through her.
"Ren! Don't say it like that. You're not destined to become anything. YOU choose. You—"
Ren's voice broke.
"But I don't know if the choice is really mine."
Silence.
Deep and cutting.
Lyra touched his cheek with both hands.
"Ren. Look at me."
He did.
And the fear in his eyes was raw.
"You are Ren," she said fiercely."My Ren. Our Ren. The boy who makes the impossible real. The boy who—who laughs at Draven's screaming—"
"HEY!"
"—the boy who used his own memories of another life to give us a future."
Her forehead pressed to his.
"You. Are. Ren."
Ren's breath hitched.
For a moment, the echo softened.
And then—
It surged.
Hard.
A violent pulse shot through his chest, buckling his knees.Lyra cried out and caught him.Borin swore and rushed forward.Draven screamed, tripped, screamed again.
Ren clutched at his heart.
The world around him blurred at the edges.
His voice was a rasp:
"It's… growing."
Lyra held him tighter.
"REN! Stay with me—stay here—stay here with me—"
He tried.
Gods, he tried.
But the echo pressed outward, demanding space.
Demanding direction.
Demanding him.
Ren felt it pulling him toward the seal—not physically, but spiritually.
The dream wanted him back.
The sealed one wanted him back.
The path wanted him forward.
Borin grabbed Ren's shoulders and held him upright.
"Kid. Listen to me. You're stronger than this thing. You're smarter than it. You're—"
Ren shook his head, tears in his eyes now.
"I don't… know."
Borin's voice lowered to a growl.
"Then borrow our strength."
Draven scrambled closer, voice cracking.
"YES! BORROW MINE TOO! EVEN THOUGH I HAVE VERY LITTLE TO OFFER! TAKE IT ANYWAY!"
Lyra cupped Ren's face again.
"Ren. Look at me."
He did.
Barely.
Her voice came out steady, even as her hands shook.
"You told me the forest remembers everything, right?"
He nodded weakly.
"Then listen closely."
She leaned in, forehead to forehead again.
"Remember me."
Ren gasped.
The echo recoiled.
Not in pain.
In recognition.
Lyra continued softly:
"If the echo listens to everything you feel…then remember you're not alone.Remember us.Remember who you are."
Draven sniffed loudly.
"And remember I'm too young to die in a haunted forest!"
Borin shot him a look.
Ren laughed.
A tiny laugh.A fragile laugh.
But a laugh.
And the echo cracked.
A thin line of silver light split down the center of his chest—not a wound,not physical,but visible.
The echo screamed without sound.
Ren choked.
"Lyra—Lyra, it—"
"I'm here."
"It's—changing—"
"I'm here."
"It's—"
A burst of force knocked everyone backward.
Lyra skidded across the soil.Borin hit a tree and swore.Draven screamed and passed out.
Ren remained standing.
Alone.
In front of the seal.
Chest glowing faintly with fractured silver.
Breathing hard.
Eyes wide.
And the echo whispered through him—
not a callnot a warningnot a command
but a question.
"Will you break…or become?"
Ren's voice shook.
"I… don't know."
The forest trembled.
The roots responded.
The seal pulsed.
And for the first time—
the echo inside Rendidn't feel like a piece of someone else.
It felt like something trying to be born.