The desert wind hushed, as if even Namora itself dared not interrupt.
Airenne stepped forward, her boots sinking slightly into the sand, each step echoing in the minds of those who watched her. Her dark robes didn't flutter—they clung to her frame, like a second skin woven from the night sky. Her presence didn't scream power.
It whispered it.
Liam's fingers clenched around the fragment still warm in his palm. His heart pounded in his chest—not in fear, but in recognition.
"I saw you," he said. "In the vision… in the Veil Spire."
Airenne tilted her head. "You saw echoes. I am… more."
Aeris moved in front of Liam without hesitation. "Why are you here?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Airenne's eyes flicked to Aeris, then back to Liam. "He's nearing the point of no return. I had to see for myself."
Kael slowly reached for his blade.
Nyra whispered, "Is she friend or—?"
"Neither," Aeris said quickly. "She walks her own line."
But Airenne only smiled, like she was amused by the comment.
"I'm not here to harm anyone. If I wanted that, I'd have done it when you were lost in the mirages. You forget," she said, stepping closer, "this place was built from my own memories once."
Liam's eyes narrowed. "So, you have walked this path."
"Long ago. Too long to matter… or maybe too short to forget."
Nyra stepped forward. "Then tell us what we're missing. Help us. What are these fragments really? Why were they scattered across worlds?"
Airenne didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she reached into the folds of her robe and pulled out a shard of glass—blackened, with a faint shimmer at its edge.
"Because the spellbook was never a book," she said. "It was a person."
Silence.
Even the wind dared not move.
"What?" Liam asked, stunned.
"A soul, shattered into fragments, sealed away across realms," Airenne continued. "You're not just gathering power. You're reconstructing a consciousness."
Nyra shook her head. "That's impossible. That would mean—"
"That someone's soul was torn into pieces and left behind," Aeris finished grimly.
Airenne nodded. "And it wasn't just anyone. It was the architect of the realms themselves."
Kael's voice was dry. "You're saying Liam's rebuilding a god?"
"No," Airenne replied softly. "The god."
Liam staggered a step back.
He looked at the fragment in his hand—what he thought was just a key, a clue, a path forward.
But now…
Now it pulsed differently.
Like it had a heartbeat.
"Why me?" he asked. "Why am I the one collecting them?"
Airenne's expression softened—just a flicker.
"Because he chose you."
The others looked confused.
Liam stared at her. "He?"
"The god. The one who was broken. His soul recognized yours. That's why the mirror called to you. Why Aeris found you. Why the visions come."
"And you?" Aeris asked. "Whose side are you on, Airenne?"
Airenne met her eyes—two women, different and yet so alike.
"I'm on the side that survives."
With that, she held the black shard to her chest.
"Soon, the sixth fragment will awaken. It's guarded by something far worse than bone and shadow. You'll need more than courage, more than trust. You'll need sacrifice."
"Wait!" Liam called as she turned away. "Why tell me all this now?"
She paused, then turned her head slightly, her voice distant.
"Because I dreamed of your death last night, Liam Gray. And the world broke with you."
Then she vanished—shattered into crows made of dust, scattering into the desert wind.
They stood there, stunned.
The silence was now unbearable.
Aeris turned toward Liam, worry in her eyes. "We need to move. We're being watched. If Airenne's here… then so is he."
"Who?" Kael asked.
Nyra answered before Aeris could.
"Nytherion."
Liam shivered.
The name felt like a storm.
Later that night
The group set camp at the edge of the dunes, near an oasis flickering between existence and illusion. Aeris sat with her knees pulled to her chest, staring at the stars. Kael was sharpening his blade, jaw clenched tight. Nyra busied herself drawing protection runes in the sand.
Liam sat alone.
Fragment in hand.
He could hear it now—not words, but emotion. Longing. Regret. Pain.
It was someone's memory.
A whisper of a life once lived.
And for the first time… he wondered if he would become part of that memory.
If he failed.