…The final memory I have of her is the sound of her voice calling my name.
***
Lira looked back at me, her crystal-blue eyes wide with a terror that cut straight through my soul.
Yet, even in that moment, I saw a flicker of longing. It was as if she were trying to pour a lifetime of unspoken feelings into a single, desperate glance.
High above in the midnight sky, a colossal eye loomed.
It was framed by a halo of sweeping feathers that shimmered with an ethereal light. Its sun-gold iris locked onto me, pinning me in place.
With every rhythmic beat of those massive wings, powerful gales surged toward the earth, threatening to tear the world apart.
Everything was unraveling.
The stars fell from the heavens like shards of shattered glass. Great fractures ripped through the sky, pouring blinding white light onto the soil.
The very air hummed with the sound of reality coming undone, a vibration that rattled my bones.
My legs burned with exhaustion, but I didn't stop running.
The distance between us seemed to stretch, a cruel trick of space and time. I extended my hand, reaching for her even as the scorching light from the rift threatened to sear my vision.
“Lira! Take my hand! Quickly!” I screamed.
My voice shook, but the thundering roar from above simply swallowed the sound.
Lira reached out. Her gloved hand trembled like a leaf in a storm.
Behind her, a wide silver gash cut through the air, reflecting off her white dress. It was a ravenous, merciless thing.
It swept her up like a riptide, a force of nature I had no hope of resisting.
“Zorn!”
The eye in the sky chuckled. It was a cold, mocking sound that vibrated through the atmosphere.
“Did you honestly think I would not find out about Lira sneaking to the Sixth Realm, Zorn?” The voice was deep, reverberating, and filled with divine arrogance.
“Let her go! You don't control her!” I roared at the sky.
“On the contrary. You are a demon, Zorn,” the eye intoned. “You are a mere shadow compared to Lira’s sun. There is no place for you beside the Ninth Realm's Herald of Light. Bid your farewell.”
“Zorn! I’m so sorry!”
Lira’s apologetic cry was the last thing I heard before the tear in space ate her voice. The light swallowed her whole, and then, with a sharp crack, the rift snapped shut.
She was gone.
The night sky returned to a deceptive calm, as if the nightmare had never happened at all.
“No... Lira, please!”
The words were a broken whisper. I reached for the fading shimmers of her light, but the sky offered nothing in return.
My hand fell uselessly to my side.
“Let this be your final transgression,” the eye spoke, its tone as cold as the void. “You shall wither here, Zorn. You are bound forever to the Sixth Realm of Eternal Night. Goodbye.”
The eye shuttered. Its massive wings curled into a tight golden spiral before dissolving into shimmering dust.
Silence didn't follow. This was something worse. This was punishment.
Even the beat of my own heart felt like an insult in the emptiness she had left behind.
I fell to my knees, slamming my fists into the dirt until my knuckles bled.
“LIRA!”
I gripped my face and threw my head back, releasing a blood-curdling scream that tore through my throat. Pain consumed me.
Days turned into weeks.
The wound in my heart refused to scab over. Rage and unanswered questions churned inside me like a storm.
How could this happen? Why was she taken? Why her?
What was that object in the sky? Who was that winged eye?
The rustling leaves sounded like they were mocking me. Everything reminded me of her. The stream where we used to sit no longer held her reflection.
Desperation became my only companion. I shuffled aimlessly through the woods, watching as every trail led deeper into a burgeoning nothingness.
…Until tonight.
In the center of a clearing, I found it. A door as dark as the void itself.
It wasn't made of wood or stone. The surface churned like black water, rippling with the image of a star-filled sky. A low hum vibrated through the air, making my teeth ache.
Suddenly, the mark on my wrist flared.
My Scorpio glyph flashed a brilliant, angry red.
Beams of light erupted from the skin, dragging my arm toward the door. My own shadow stretched out toward the threshold, trembling as if it had a mind of its own.
What is happening to my arm? Am I jumping straight into a trap?
The forest went deathly silent. No insects. No birds. Only the scent of ozone and metallic rain.
I held my breath and touched the surface.
It felt like plunging my hand into a freezing lake. A chill shot through my spine.
The glyph on my wrist began to thrum with a violent intensity, recognizing something on the other side.
The door opened with a soft, haunting sigh.
I gasped. On the other side, clouds glowed with the gold of a sunset.
Mountains hovered in the distance, shrouded in amber fog. But there was something wrong.
The world was inverted.
My stomach did a slow roll. Looking through the doorway, I saw the open sky beneath my feet. Looking up, I saw the ocean and the earth suspended above me.
“Why is everything upside down?”
Before I could think of an answer, the door swung shut. It pushed me forward, ejecting me from the only solid ground I had left.
I was falling.
Actually, it felt like I was falling up toward the water. My senses screamed in confusion.
This is it. This is how I die.
The wind howled, whipping my hair into a frenzy. I reached out for anything, but there was only the endless, golden air.
“This isn’t real!” I shouted, though the gale stole the words.
As I plummeted, the perception of the fall seemed to change. It now felt like I was falling downward toward the water. I thought I saw her face in the clouds. It was probably just a hallucination brought on by the terror of the fall.
If I died here, would I finally see her again?
Sea salt stung my lips. I saw islands suspended in the sky, whole forests clinging to the topsides.
It was beautiful.
It was terrifying.
My heart raced against my chest. The Scorpio glyph grew searingly hot.
Something knows I’m here. It’s waiting for me.
For a second, I wanted to give up. I closed my eyes and crossed my arms, bracing for the impact of the ocean rushing toward me.
Then, a brilliant flash of light shot up from the depths.
It wasn't a weapon. It was a hand. A massive, radiant hand made of blue and gold light emerged from the waves and caught me in a gentle squeeze.
I gasped as the momentum vanished. I was being lowered, not dropped. The light felt warm, like a physical manifestation of comfort.
My muscles went limp. I couldn't even keep my eyes open.
The light felt like a fluid, a living substance circulating around me. I could see small bubbles escaping my mouth, yet I could breathe as easily as if I were standing in the forest.
The hand brought me deep into the ocean. Silver streaks of light danced in the dark water like liquid stars. I tried to speak, but my vision was fading.
“Lira...”
If she was in this world, I would find her.
The sea embraced me with a strange, heavy love. The light twisted between the waves before the darkness finally took over.
From the depths of the ocean, a low humming sound echoed, as if the world itself had been waiting for my arrival.
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