The violet chasm had called him by name, and Kael had taken the step before he could anchor himself to his Dream Garden. Then the air had seized him like a hand asking not to be let go.
Everything around him had turned into an intoxicating sweetness, a fragrance he recognized at once: the luminous lotus flowers Elara loved. It promised happiness, a paradise. He felt his heart grow lighter: every worry faded.
This was the Veil of Obsession: the manias, the unreachable desires, the fixations that imprison you. The last, and perhaps the hardest, of the eight trials of the Veils of the Keeper. His desire to save Elara had been his engine, but it could also become his ruin.
'If you hear a thin buzzing in your ear, that's the Veil talking to you,' Lyra had said. Kael strained to listen. Silence. Only the fragrance, and a sun that seemed to call to him.
'Your body, in Aris, is still safe,' Elian had said. 'As far as I know.' The longer he stayed in there, the less reassuring that sentence sounded.
It was as if his wishes were about to be granted.
Kael found himself standing in a place that had always felt familiar, though he had only ever dreamed it: Elara's Garden of Dreams, completely restored. It was a radiant place, far from the faded, corrupted version he had seen.
The grass was a vibrant green, lotus flowers floated on ponds of crystal water, shimmering in every color of the rainbow. At the center of the meadow stood a single small tree, Elara's tree, heavy with leaves. The air was warm and fragrant, and a gentle sun lit everything beneath a cloudless sky. The sound was a sweet melody, a chorus of birdsong and the soft rustle of wind through the leaves.
Kael took a step.
His legs felt weightless. Every touch of grass beneath his feet was soft, every scent an ecstasy. There was no trace of the Ash, nor of darkness. It was the paradise he had always wished for Elara.
Then he saw her.
At the foot of the tree, sitting on a bench of white marble, was Elara. Nothing remained of the sick Elara or the lifeless illusion. She was Elara as Kael would have wanted to see her at her best: golden hair falling over her shoulders, big eyes full of life and joy, a luminous smile. She looked completely healed, brimming with energy, and she looked at him with boundless affection.
"Kael!" Elara cried, in a melodious voice, her laughter filling the air. She rose from the bench and ran to him with open arms.
Kael felt tears fill his eyes.
The longing to hold her, to believe that everything was real, was so powerful that his body moved on its own. It was everything he had ever wanted, his greatest obsession: Elara healthy, happy, alive. He could stay here, forever. He could let himself go into that happiness.
'A Veil. You're inside a Veil.' The thought arrived and dissolved, like sugar in hot water.
The embrace was long and full: an absence of pain and fear that Kael hadn't felt in longer than he could remember. Elara's scent, a blend of jasmine and morning frost, was tangible reality.
"I thought... I'd lost you forever," Kael murmured against her hair, holding her tight.
Elara pulled back from the embrace, her eyes full of joy. "You're here, Kael! Don't cry anymore. We're home now. There are no monsters that can get us here."
Kael held her hands. "I can't believe it. It's like... like the bad things never happened."
"We left them outside. Everything is lovely here," she answered with infinite sweetness. "Shall we play hide and seek among the flowers?"
They spent most of the day among the flowers, playing hide and seek, then on the white marble bench at the foot of the tree. Elara giggled while Kael, sitting on the bench, swung his legs like a child. Elara talked only of colors and sounds, and Kael listened.
"It's strange," Kael said, stroking the back of her hand. "I've been so focused on the battle... here everything is so quiet."
"Why do you want the noise, Kael? The battle hurts," Elara answered innocently. "Mama used to say true happiness is this," she said, pointing at the perfect blue sky. "Just peace. And flowers."
Kael rested his head against hers, his body finally relaxed. As the gentle sun set, they lay down on the soft grass and fell asleep together. For a moment, Kael felt complete.
He woke with sunrays warming his face. Elara was sleeping beside him. The garden was identical to the day before. The birds repeated the same notes, in the same order, without a single variation, and Kael found it reassuring.
"Good morning, Kael!" Elara whispered, waking. "Shall we walk down to the stream? We can throw the shiny pebbles!"
They got up and started along a path of white gravel.
"You look thoughtful, Kael. Aren't you happy?" Elara asked, tugging at his arm.
Kael hesitated. "I'm happy, sweetheart. But I was wondering... what happened to Lyra and Anya? You know, our friends... will we see them again?"
Elara smiled, but only on the surface. "Oh, your friends. It doesn't matter! When you play, you only think about playing, right? We don't have to worry about them: they're fine."
"And the Ash? The darkness. Is it gone?"
"There is no darkness here. That's the grown-ups' worry. You found me and brought me here, where it's safe. Now you only have to rest," she said, squeezing his hand tight. "There's no mission more important than being with me."
The answer was childlike and absolute, and Kael felt his own hand go cold, for an instant, inside hers.
They stopped at the stream.
"It's so beautiful, Elara. It feels like dreaming," Kael said, studying her face.
"It's our home, Kael, not a dream!" she retorted, tossing a pebble into the water. "You're just too used to being sad and fighting. Don't you remember how tired you were of fighting? We stay here, where nobody asks us to do anything."
The light off the water caught her hair, and for the first time Kael really looked at it. Golden. He had seen it golden since the moment he arrived and had never questioned it. Elara's hair was black, black as pitch, and he had known it all her life. A small detail, and wrong, like a button sewn on backwards on a garment Kael knew by heart.
He realized he had been holding his breath.
"I don't like fighting, Elara," Kael replied, feeling the anxiety rise. "But Keepers must protect dreams. It's our duty. It's my duty!"
Elara pouted. "Duty, duty! How boring! Duty is ending and being with the people you love! Are you so obsessed with what you have to do that you forget about me?"