In the cold emptiness of space, a man in black coat walked forward. His every tread seemingly falling steadily upon a majestic red carpet of solar flare. There were no grand processions or majestic orchestra to accompany him, but it was a sight to behold nonetheless. A pity that no one was there to witness it.
In the vastness of space, there was something inherently ephemeral to all things that occur within it. No matter the grandeur, they would always be drowned by the obscurity of ubiquity. But it did not matter to Uriah. He was there for a purpose. He did not know whether he would succeed, but he held on to hope. He cannot fail because he would not know where else to start if he did.
He looked around the red star, seeing glimpses of ruined structures floating in its orbit, burning and melting slowly across centuries. These were the remnants of an attempt to defy nature, to hold it firmly in one's tiny grasp. How fleeting these remnants were, mere skeletons of a sphere that held less mass than even the star it sought to cage. Uriah glanced at them for only a moment before staring back at the star, his steps halting as he sensed a presence behind him. With a slight smile, he turned around.
The space around him seemed to have changed into an ever silent lake, its waters remaining still amidst the transience of thought. Even the ripples created by the new presence vanished without qualms in but a mere breath.
The twinkling of starlight in the distance seemed to welcome the new entrant who could only look around him in confusion and trepidation. It was an unusual place he found himself in. It looked like the depths of space, but at the same time he understood that it was merely a reflection of it. A strange power seemed to shape everything within this place. And finally, Uriah's voice woke the new entrant from his daze.
"I didn't expect you would have your answer so soon. It's good to see you, General Miars. Or do you prefer that I call you Emperor Rima?"
"Graven Lord... I dare not claim to be an emperor before you, my lord."
"Very well, then I shall call you General Rima. And you should stop calling me Graven Lord. Although I am technically a Graven Lord, I am much more than that. And I don't wish to be associated with the others either."
"Yes, my lord. May I know where we are and why we're here?"
"Well, it is your first time here so I understand the confusion. Welcome to the promenade of worlds, the Reverie Corridor! It is by the authority of Reverie that you have gained access to it. Within the Reverie Corridor, everything is as a thought."
With a snap of his fingers, Uriah changed the entire scenery within the Reverie Corridor. From the depths of space, they appeared over a still and endless ocean with a bright blue sky overhead. With another snap, they were in a prairie, the sound of rushing water coming from a nearby river filling the air with a liveliness long lost on Rima. And with another snap, they were back in the depths of space. Uriah turned around once more, facing the star that he was walking towards previously.
"See this, General? A red giant waiting to die, but only something bigger than it could kill it. For countless eons many have tried, but always they needed something bigger."
Uriah spoke with a hint of derision as he pointed toward the remnants of a dyson sphere that now lay broken and melted along the star's orbit. Alars Rima knew what they were. Those remnants had been there since the first invasion on Rima. The dyson sphere never seemed to have been completed. Or perhaps it was completed and suffered catastrophic failure thus ending in such ruin.
Whichever the case, the people of Rima were disinclined to find out. They would sooner turn to ash before they could even get close to those ruins. And yet, Alars Rima was standing so close to the star now. Farther behind him, he could see the Star Relay that his people had created from studying the drifting debris of the dyson sphere that had somehow managed to pull away from the star's gravity.
"Why would anyone want to kill a star, my lord?"
"Why does anyone want to kill anyone? For power, of course. It is a decent Dream, but at the end of the day, it is a mere Dream. Nature will not allow a star to die before its appointed time, before the flame within its heart finally dies out. A red giant waiting to die, yet still it burns majestically. It too is alive, as you and I are."
"Why are you telling me this, my lord?"
"Because I want you to understand. Reverie is not Dreams. We do not wait. We think and we do. General, will you wait for Rima to be besieged once more before you act?"
Uriah snapped his finger once more and the scenery on their left changed. It showed a terrifying battlefield littered with corpses that could not even keep their forms whole. There was no sanctity in their deaths, no peace in their rest. This is what Dreams had wrought upon the people of this universe, an endless waking nightmare.
General Rima was used to seeing such a scene. He knew it was the frontlines in Torval so he was not too bothered by it. Although his heart ached seeing the lives that Rima lost, he knew it was inevitable. But just when he was about to ask why he was being shown this, he saw something that made his heart go cold.
A woman dressed in red and black robes walked through the sky over the battlefield. Her enchanting figure seemed to drive anyone insane, but this was especially the case for the dead. With a wave of her arm, the countless corpses that made small hills began moving, turning into grotesque beasts that marched on her command.
In another area of the battlefield, there was huge man that looked like a small giant. his disgustingly muscular physique seemed to want to burst into blood and flesh, but it did not happen. The pressure that should have made him burst open like a melon was instead unleashed upon the battlefield, tearing it down with every swing of his fists.
"These are just two of the Ascendants that had joined the battle. I'm sure you are more aware of the others than even myself. So I ask you again. Will you wait for Rima to be besieged once more before you act?"
"No, sir! I'll head over to the frontlines immediately!"
"Good. Then before you go, make your preparations on Rima. As of now, Rima has become a junction for all four Paths. Be careful. Grow your forces and if needed, as the first Pathstrider of Reverie, you are granted the authority of Reverie. You may use it to induct more people onto our Path. But our Path only accepts the worthy, remember."
General Rima saluted silently as he looked one more time at the scenes in the frontlines. He wanted to head there immediately, but he also understood what Uriah was telling him. This might be the last time he leaves Rima as a general. When he returns, perhaps the Pinnacle War would no longer be fought on a distant planet, but in his homeworld itself.
His heart ached at the thought, but he already knew it was inevitable. This was the demise he had foreseen upon learning that his own people had betrayed Rima's purity. Rima will inevitably be drowned in war from within and without.
"When you are ready to leave, return to the Reverie Corridor. Since you do not yet have enough authority to use it as a means for traversal, I will aid you this one time."
Uriah pointed a finger at General Rima as an inexplicably invisible glow appeared, shooting toward the man. General Rima could tell that it was the same kind of flame he had been given before, but this also felt somewhat different. While the previous one seemed more like a vessel for something, this one seemed like pure power and authority. He did not know what it was, but he was curious to find out. Unable to hold his curiosity, he asked Uriah.
"My lord, is this the First Flame that many people have been searching for?"
"First Flame? No, do not compare my flame with that vicious lie. As I said, Dreams are mere Dreams. Reverie is not Dreams. We do not wait. We think and we do. This flame is the same. It bears the miracles of creation that the First Flame could not even begin to imagine."
"It sounds more powerful than the First Flame.... What is it called then, my lord?"
"Its name... although I wish to speak it, I cannot allow the Crucible to know its name just yet. There are hidden dangers in this universe. This flame may just be the key to winning this war. So not yet. The universe, the Crucible must not know it yet. All I can say is that the First Flame was never the first flame to ever exist. Now go."
With a wave of his hand, Uriah sent General Rima back to the underground ancestral hall where his family was in. And Uriah, he continued walking toward the red giant. A red giant waiting to die, but only something bigger than it could kill it. For countless eons many have tried, but always they needed something bigger. But Uriah, he had no intentions of killing a star. He wanted to nurture it.
"Destruction is the simplest thing in the world. Creation is the most difficult. How could power obtained from destruction ever be greater than one obtained from creation."
Uriah scoffed in disdain as he continued heading toward the star, finally reaching its corona before disappearing into its fiery depths.