The moment that fragile thread, the unseen, unspoken bond that tied Aveline's memories to him, was severed, something within Theron gave way.
It did not break with violence.
It simply… vanished.
And with it, the light began to die.
What had once raged around him like a storm… those luminous ribbons that had answered his grief, his fury, his desperate need to protect, now faltered. Their brilliance dimmed, not abruptly, but with a quiet, aching reluctance, as though they, too, felt the loss. They flickered, hesitated, circling him one last time like abandoned sentinels searching for purpose… for a reason to remain.
But there was nothing left to answer them.
No call. No need.
No her.
And so they faded, slowly unraveling into nothingness, like the final glow of a candle surrendering to darkness.
