"When the last embers of wonder fade, four born as one shall decide the fate of magic — to awaken the dawn, or bring eternal dusk."
PROLOGUE
THE DREAM
Lina Amara
Lina always woke before the dream ended.
It began the same way every night: a field of silver grass rippling under moonlight, a soft wind humming a melody she almost recognized. She stood barefoot, hair drifting around her like smoke, staring at four glowing symbols floating in the air.
A sun.
A blade.
A storm.
A crescent.
Every time she reached toward them, the scene dissolved into a blinding rush of gold. She heard voices—not words, just echoes—then felt herself fall, weightless, into waking.
Tonight was no different.
Lina sat up in bed, heart racing. Morning light crept through her curtains, warm and gentle. Downstairs she could already hear her mother humming, pans clattering softly. Her brothers argued in the hallway, as usual.
Normal. Safe. Familiar.
And yet… wrong.
The dream had sharpened again. More vivid. More insistent. As if the symbols themselves were watching her.
She glanced at the date on her phone.
Five days until her eighteenth birthday.
The dream always intensified around her birthday.
She didn't know why.
She only knew one thing for certain:
Something was coming.
And she was no longer sure she was ready.
Chapter 1: The Dream of Light
The world always began in silence.
Then came the light. Soft, silvery, stretching across an endless mist. Lina stood barefoot in a field that wasn't a field, where the air shimmered like water and the sky had no color. In the center of it all grew a tree made of light its branches alive with stars, its roots spreading across the earth like veins of silver.
She knew this place. She had been here a thousand times in her sleep.
But tonight, something was different. The air pulsed a heartbeat, steady and deep. The mist parted, revealing three other figures standing around the tree. They were distant, faces hidden in haze, but each movement felt familiar. Like reflections caught in shifting glass.
Lina took a step forward.
The tree's roots glowed beneath her feet, and whispers stirred in the wind. Words she couldn't understand, until one rose above the rest.
Hasiera.
The sound rippled through her soft, ancient, alive.
Her hand burned with light. She looked down; faint silver lines traced across her palm, forming symbols she didn't recognize. The brightness grew until it swallowed everything.
Lina gasped and sat upright in bed.
Her sheets were tangled around her legs, her skin damp with sweat. For a moment she expected to see silver light, or mist, or a glowing tree. But her bedroom looked painfully ordinary: soft blue walls, a desk cluttered with textbooks, morning sunlight sneaking through the curtains.
6:02 a.m. The day before her eighteenth birthday.
She pressed her palm against her chest, heart still racing. The symbols were gone — if they'd ever been there at all.
"Just a dream," she whispered. She said it every time.
Outside her door, she heard her brothers arguing over breakfast, her mother humming in the kitchen. Normal sounds. Safe sounds. But something in the air felt off, like the world was holding its breath.
Lina shook her head and stood, stretching the stiffness from her muscles. The ritual helped — grounding her. She tied her waist-length hair into a loose braid and faced the small mirror on her dresser. Her reflection stared back: calm eyes, composed expression. The kind of face that didn't believe in dreams or prophecies.
Still, when she blinked, she thought she saw a faint shimmer at the edge of the mirror like light on water and the softest echo of a voice.
Hasiera.
Her pulse quickened.
Then, as always, the moment passed.
She took a slow breath, centered herself, and whispered her kung fu mantra — "Stillness gives birth to strength."
But deep down, a quiet thought refused to fade.
What if the dream wasn't a dream anymore?
I shook my head, i'm going crazy. It's either that or the world has gone crazy. I mean what the heck I'm I thinking...
Chapter 2: Ripples in the Ordinary
"Sweetie wake up or you will last for your last day of school."
I open my eyes,stare up at the siling and sigh. I've had that dream again. For the past few weeks I've been having the same dream. It would be fine if it was a sweet dream that was completely meaningless, but no it had to be one of those dreams that you are pretty sure are real and give you an omnious premonition. To put it bluntly it's a dream that tells you shit is about to happen. And whatever is going to happen it's definitely happening today. But you still hope it's nothing but a dream. So I find myself in quite a predicament.
I definitely don't want to get out of bed but the situation doesn't allow it and even if I somehow could mom wouldn't allow it,at least not today. See today is somewhat special because not only am i graduating from high school,where I'm valedictorian by the way. It's also my birthday and birthdays are a big deal for her.
Lina's feet padded across the hardwood floor, bare and silent. The morning sunlight painted warm stripes across her bedroom, but her mind still clung to the dream. She could almost feel the mist curling around her ankles, the heartbeat of Hasiera lingering in her chest.
"Lina! You're going to be late if you don't eat!" her mother called from the kitchen.
"Coming!" she answered, trying to shake off the lingering images. Dreams were supposed to fade with the morning. They weren't supposed to leave lines of silver on your palms or whisper your name like a promise.
She grabbed her backpack, sliding in her textbooks and water bottle, and tied her hair tighter. On the way out the door, she paused at the mirror again. This time, the shimmer at the edge of the glass lasted a fraction longer — a ripple, like water disturbed by a single finger. She blinked, and it was gone.
"Maybe I'm just seeing things," she muttered.
The city was waking up. Cars hummed down the streets, coffee shops opened their doors, and teenagers trudged to school, earbuds in, scrolling through their phones. Lina liked the rhythm of it, the ordinariness. It was safe. But even as she jogged along the sidewalk, she noticed small, strange things — a pigeon frozen mid-flap, its wings stiff in the air for a heartbeat longer than it should have; a flicker of streetlight in the broad morning sun; a faint hum in her ears, almost musical.
She slowed. "Okay… focus," she whispered. Kung fu. Balance. Center. She took a deep breath, letting her grounding training take over.
Then it happened.
A ripple of light, barely visible at first, raced across the pavement. It moved like water, flowing in a pattern that didn't belong. Lina froze. Her stomach flipped. Her heartbeat mirrored the pulse of the light, and the word whispered in her mind again:
Hasiera.
She stumbled backward as the light flickered, coalescing into the shape of a small, silver bird. It hovered before her, delicate and translucent, its wings glowing faintly. And then just as suddenly as it appeared it vanished, leaving nothing but the morning sun and the ordinary city street.
Lina's fists clenched. "No," she whispered. "This… this isn't real."
But deep inside, something had shifted. Something had woken.
By the time she reached school, she was shaking slightly. Friends greeted her as usual, unaware of the ripple she'd seen, the pulse she'd felt in the air, the whisper that still lingered behind her ears. She smiled politely, nodded at their chatter, and kept moving.
Yet every step reminded her that something was calling her. Something old. Something alive. Something she couldn't ignore any longer.
The ordinary world of Hasiera — her safe, predictable life — had begun to fracture. And with every heartbeat, Lina realized: she was no longer just a girl with a recurring dream. She was part of something much bigger…
Something waiting for her to wake
Chapter One 3: The Messenger
School should have grounded her—routine always did—but today even the track field felt unreal. Her coach praised her form, classmates joked with her, teachers smiled at her perfect work.
But Lina felt the dream at her back like a shadow.
The final bell of the morning echoed through the school halls, but Lina barely noticed. Her notebook lay open on the desk, filled with neat, precise notes she hadn't read. Her mind was elsewhere — replaying the shimmer, the ripple of light, the whisper of Hasiera.
"Lina, you okay?" her best friend, Tessa, leaned over, frowning.
"I… yeah, just a weird morning," Lina said, forcing a smile.
Tessa narrowed her eyes, unconvinced, but let it go. Lina wasn't ready to explain anything. Not yet.
By mid-afternoon, Lina felt the pull stronger. Her steps along the crowded sidewalk grew uneven, as if an invisible thread tugged her down a narrow side street she rarely used. She hesitated at the alley entrance, instincts screaming caution.
This is crazy, she told herself. It's just a dream. Ignore it.
But curiosity won. She stepped into the shadowed alley. The air smelled faintly of rain… and something else — sharp, metallic, almost alive.
At the end of the alley stood a figure.
Tall, slender, cloaked in black that shimmered like liquid shadows. The way he moved made the world around him seem slower, stretched.
It's him.
During lunch, she sensed him.
A man standing just outside the school gates, hands in pockets, gaze fixed on her. Not threatening—just present. Too present.
He didn't look like anyone she knew. Tall, with dark hair streaked in silver, dressed simply but with an aura that made him stand out.
Her friends kept talking, laughing, unaware.
The man lifted a hand. A small gesture.
A summons.
Something inside her tightened.
She should have ignored him.
She knew she should.
But something in his eyes said her name long before he ever spoke it.
When she finally approached him after school, he didn't smile. Didn't introduce himself.
He simply said, in a calm, quiet voice:
"Lina Amara… it's time."
She froze. "Time for what? Who are you?"
"A messenger," he said. "From the world you do not remember."
Her blood chilled. "I think you've mistaken—"
"I haven't." His gaze softened. "Your dreams have been preparing you. The Veil has been calling you back."
Lina stepped back. "Veil?"
"Yes. And your sisters await you there."
"Sisters?" Lina's breath caught. "I don't… I don't have sisters."
"You do," he said gently. "Triplets born with you. Separated for their safety. Their fates tied to yours. And to Hasiera."
The name struck her like a bell.
"You've seen it, haven't you?" the figure said, voice low and smooth. The words slid straight into her mind.
Lina froze. "Seen what?" she asked. Her voice was steady, though her pulse raced.
"The pulse. The whisper. Hasiera." His eyes glimmered silver beneath the hood. "You are one of the Four."
Lina took a step back. Her stomach flipped. "The Four? You—who even are you? How do you know my name?!"
The figure raised his hands, slowly, as if to show he meant no harm. "I know more than your name. I know your dreams. The visions you've had since you were a child. The feeling you've always carried — that you didn't quite… belong. That you were different."
Her breath caught. How could he know that?
"You… you don't know anything about me," she said sharply, backing toward the wall. "I've never even—" Her voice faltered. Memories of fleeting deja vu, unexplained instincts, and her recurring dream flashed in her mind. Maybe he does know…
"You are different," the figure said. "And that difference is tied to Hasiera. Magic is fading, and only the Four can awaken it — or destroy it. You are one of them."
Lina shook her head, disbelief warring with the strange pull in her chest. "I… I don't understand. I'm just me. I've always… been normal… I think."
"Normal," he repeated softly, almost sadly. "That was the illusion. But you feel it, don't you? Something calling to you. Something… alive."
The alley pulsed faintly around them. Shadows bent strangely, light rippled over the bricks, and for a moment, Lina saw — faintly, impossibly — silver lines on her hands, glowing, as in her dreams.
Fear warred with fascination. This is insane. I could run. I should run.
But the whisper echoed again, faint yet irresistible:
Hasiera.
Lina's fists clenched, her kung fu mantra rising in her mind: Stillness gives birth to strength.
Her gaze flicked to the stranger. She didn't trust him. She didn't even fully understand him. But the pull — the sense that something beyond her comprehension waited — was too strong to ignore.
She inhaled deeply. "Fine," she said, voice steady despite the tremor in her chest. "Explain. But know this — I'm not going anywhere until I know the truth."
The figure inclined his head, almost approvingly. "Good. You must be cautious. But time is short. Hasiera waits."
And, reluctantly but deliberately, Lina stepped forward. Into the unknown.
Hasiera.
A word she shouldn't know but felt deep in her bones.
Before she could speak, the air behind him shimmered—like heat rising off a road, but silver.
A tear in reality.
A doorway of light.
He extended a hand. "Come. Your destiny begins now."
Every instinct screamed danger—but something deeper whispered truth.
Lina took a shaky breath.
And stepped through the Veil.
CHAPTER 4: Hasiera Calls
Lina Amara
Light swallowed her whole.
She stumbled forward onto solid ground—smooth, cool, glowing faintly underfoot. The air felt charged, humming with ancient magic she recognized without understanding why.
Her guide stepped beside her, seemingly unaffected.
"Welcome back," he said quietly. "To Hasiera's threshold."
Lina turned slowly, taking in the shimmering horizon, the shifting sky, the floating strands of light weaving through the air like living threads.
"It's beautiful," she whispered.
"It's dying," he corrected softly. "Magic fades. Balance fractures. Only the Four can restore it—or end it."
The Four.
Her heartbeat quickened.
"My… sisters?"
"Yes. Each has received her own summons. You will meet soon—once the Veil deems you ready."
Lina swallowed hard. "Why were we separated?"
"To save you," he said, voice heavy. "A prophecy marked your birth. And forces in Hasiera would have claimed you before you took your first steps."
A prophecy.
Sisters.
A dying world.
And she—a girl who only wanted normalcy—was at the center of it all.
"What do I have to do?" she asked quietly.
"Awaken," he said. "And remember."
Before she could ask more, the ground lit up beneath her. A sigil flared—one of the symbols from her dream. The rising sun.
Her symbol.
The Veil responded.
The world around her brightened.
And somewhere deeper in Hasiera, three other lights flickered to life....
Chapter 5: The void
Lina stepped through the Veil.
And everything stopped.
There was no sound.
No wind.
No heartbeat.
No sense of her own breathing.
Nothing.
Complete silence.
She couldn't hear her breathing, couldn't hear anything.
She opened her eyes.
Nothing.
She couldn't tell if her eyes were open or closed.
There was no darkness either. Darkness implied the presence of something that could be seen.
Here, there was simply—
nothing.
Lina tried to move.
She couldn't tell whether she was standing, falling, or floating.
She reached out.
Her hand met nothing.
She looked behind her, there was no veil, no doorway, no world.
Nothing.
For the first time Lina felt a small flicker of fear
"Hello?"
Her voice disappeared into the emptiness, she waited for an echo.
There wasn't one.
She didn't know how long she waited
A few seconds?
Minutes?
Hours?
The thought made no sense.
There was no time here
No morning
No night
No warmth
No cold
Only silence
Lina slowly lowered her hand
She had no idea where she was
She had no idea how long she had been there.
And she no idea whether she was moving forward or simply suspended in the same moment forever.
She swallowed.
"Is anyone there?"
Nothing answered.
Then—
Drip.
Lina froze.
A single drop of water fell somewhere in the distance.
The sound echoed through the emptiness.
Drip.
Again
Then came another
And another
Slowly the silence began to change
The drops became ripples
The ripples became movement
A low rumble rolled through the emptiness and the water began to stir.
The water grew louder.
Another wave followed.
Then another.
Soon, the quiet rhythm had become the sound of an enormous body of water moving somewhere beyond her sight.
A lake.
An ocean.
She couldn't tell which.
The waves grew stronger.
Crash.
Lina flinched.
Another.
Crash.
The sound surrounded her now.
Yet there was still nothing to see.
Then, far ahead, something appeared.
A point of light.
So small she almost mistook it for a star.
Lina stared.
The light pulsed once.
Then again.
Slowly, it began to grow.
She didn't move.
She couldn't.
The light grew brighter.
And brighter.
Until the faint glow became a distant radiance.
The waves continued beneath it.
Lina shielded her eyes.
"What is that?"
No answer.
The light grew again.
Suddenly, she felt something pull her forward.
Not violently.
Not painfully.
It was more like being caught by a current.
Lina tried to resist.
Her body moved anyway.
Faster.
The light expanded.
The waves became thunder.
The brightness became unbearable.
She closed her eyes.
Still, the light found her.
It passed through her eyelids, through her skin, through everything.
For one impossible moment, Lina felt as though she were being pulled apart into countless pieces of light.
Then—
Everything stopped.
Her feet touched something solid.
Lina opened her eyes.
She stood perfectly still.
Beneath her bare feet was warm stone.
The sound of water was gone.
The Void was gone.
The blinding light had faded into a soft golden glow that stretched across the horizon.
CHAPTER 6: THE VEIL
Lina slowly looked around.
She had arrived somewhere.
She didn't know where.
She didn't know how.
And she had no idea how she was going to get home.
But for the first time since stepping through the Veil, she could hear something other than silence.
A breeze moved through the trees.
Somewhere in the distance, a bird called.
Lina looked towards the sound, she saw nothing.
The landscape was beautiful.
Not beautiful in the way of something carefully designed or perfectly arranged.
It was alive.
Tall grass swayed gently in the breeze. Wildflowers grew in clusters between ancient stones. Trees stretched toward the sky, their branches heavy with leaves. Somewhere in the distance, birds called to one another, their songs carried softly across the open land.
There was life everywhere.
Lina took a slow breath.
The air felt different.
Clean. Warm.
But there was something else within it.
Something she could feel but couldn't name.
An energy.
It brushed against her skin like a current too gentle to be seen. She breathed in again, trying to understand it.
Nothing.
Whatever it was, she couldn't identify it.
So she simply let the breath out.
Then she stepped forward.
She didn't know where she was going.
There was no path ahead of her. No sign pointing the way. No voice telling her which direction to take.
Yet somehow, she knew.
This way.
The certainty settled somewhere deep inside her.
Not a thought.
Not a decision.
An instinct.
Something was pulling her forward.
So Lina followed.
She walked.
And walked.
The landscape slowly changed around her.
The grass grew taller.
The trees became older, their trunks wider and their roots twisting through the earth like veins.
Still, she continued.
She had no idea how long she had been walking.
Time felt strange here.
But unlike the emptiness of the Void, this place seemed to breathe with every passing moment.
And somewhere along the way, Lina noticed something strange.
Her body felt different.
At first, it was barely noticeable.
A warmth beneath her skin.
She slowed.
The warmth faded.
She took another step.
It returned.
Lina frowned.
Then came a strange tingling in her fingertips.
She flexed her hands.
Nothing.
She continued walking.
The tingling spread slowly through her arms.
Her breathing changed.
Deeper.
Easier.
Her senses seemed sharper.
She could hear the rustling of leaves from farther away. She could feel the breeze against her skin before it reached her. Even the ground beneath her feet seemed more solid somehow.
She stopped and looked at her hands.
They looked the same.
But they didn't feel the same.
Lina swallowed.
"What is happening to me?"
There was no answer.
Only the quiet hum beneath everything.
She kept walking.
The changes became harder to ignore.
Her heartbeat grew stronger.
The warmth in her chest intensified.
For a moment, she felt as though something inside her had awakened and was stretching after a very long sleep.
She placed a hand over her heart.
The sensation pulsed beneath her palm.
Once.
Twice.
Then it settled.
Lina stared ahead.
And froze.
Her breath caught.
She knew that place.
The trees.
The stones.
The ancient markings carved into the ground.
And there—
Her eyes widened.
The tree.
The same tree.
The one she had seen countless times in her dreams.
Its enormous branches stretched outward like reaching arms. Its trunk was twisted and ancient, covered in faintly glowing runes.
The very same runes she had spent years trying to remember after waking.
Her dreams had never shown her the whole place.
Only fragments.
But now there was no mistaking it.
This was it.
She had found the place she had been seeing all her life.
Lina stopped at the edge of the clearing.
She couldn't move.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
Everything inside her screamed that she should turn around.
Go home.
Forget this place.
Forget the Veil.
Forget the impossible things she had seen.
Return to the life she understood.
But another part of her already knew.
There was no returning to who she had been before.
Lina's eyes lowered.
A quiet, almost bitter laugh escaped her lips.
"Well," she whispered, shaking her head at herself.
Of course.
Of course it had led her here.
The dreams.
The Veil.
The Void.
All of it.
An overwhelming sense of inevitability settled into her heart.
She wasn't being forced.
She was simply arriving at something that had been waiting for her all along.
Her eyes burned.
Lina quickly blinked, but one tear slipped free anyway.
She let it fall.
For the life she had known.
For her family.
For the ordinary mornings and familiar rooms.
For the person she had been before this moment.
She didn't know what waited beyond the clearing.
She didn't know what she would become.
But she knew one thing.
There would be no going back.
Lina drew in a deep breath.
Held it.
Then slowly released it.
She looked once more at the tree.
At the runes.
At the place from her dreams.
And stepped forward.
CHAPTER 7: THE AWAKENING
Lina walked forward.
One step.
Then another.
Her pulse quickened.
She could feel it beating against her ribs.
Her breathing grew shorter.
She didn't stop.
Her pace quickened.
The clearing seemed to stretch before her, yet the tree remained impossibly close.
She walked faster.
Then faster still.
Soon she was almost jogging.
The warmth inside her chest grew stronger with every step.
Her fingers tingled.
Her skin prickled.
Something was happening to her.
She didn't understand it.
She didn't have time to.
Her feet carried her forward.
Jogging became running.
Lina ran.
The wind rushed past her face, pulling strands of black hair behind her.
Her breath came faster now.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
Yet she didn't feel tired.
If anything, she felt stronger.
Closer.
As though something inside her had been waiting for this moment.
The tree grew larger with every step.
The runes carved into its ancient bark began to glow.
Faintly at first.
Then brighter.
Lina slowed.
She was only a few steps away.
Her breath caught.
The warmth in her chest surged.
And then—
A voice spoke.
Not from the tree.
Not from the air.
Not from anywhere she could identify.
It seemed to come from everywhere at once.
Soft.
Ancient.
And impossibly close.
"Lina."
She froze.
Her entire body went still.
Her heart hammered in her chest.
Slowly, she looked around.
There was no one.
Only the ancient tree.
The glowing runes.
And the wind moving gently through the grass.
Lina swallowed.
"Who are you?"
Silence.
Then the voice came again.
"You have come."
A chill ran down her spine.
She stared at the tree.
The runes brightened.
Lina took one cautious step backward.
The voice didn't threaten her.
It didn't command her.
It simply waited.
As if it had known she would eventually arrive.
As if it had been waiting for her long before she ever knew this place existed.
Lina's eyes narrowed.
"How do you know my name?"
For a moment, there was nothing.
Then—
"Because you have always been known."
Lina's breath caught.
The warmth in her chest flared.
And every rune on the tree suddenly came alive.
CHAPTER 8: LINA THE FIRST LIGHT
Lina stepped closer to the tree.
The runes along its ancient bark glowed softly.
She lifted her hand.
Her fingers were only inches away.
Then—
Everything disappeared.
Lina opened her eyes.
She was standing in her bedroom.
For a moment, she didn't move.
Morning sunlight streamed through the curtains. Her school uniform was laid neatly across the chair. Her books were stacked on her desk exactly where she had left them.
She heard laughter downstairs.
Her mother's voice.
Her family's voices.
Lina's heart tightened.
She ran downstairs.
They were all there.
Her mother was preparing breakfast. Her father sat at the table. Her brothers were arguing over something stupid.
Everything was normal.
Everything was perfect.
Her mother looked up and smiled.
"There you are."
Lina stared at her.
A strange ache filled her chest.
She had missed this.
She stepped forward.
"Mom?"
Her mother smiled wider.
"Come eat before you're late."
Lina's eyes filled with tears.
She wanted to believe it.
She wanted this to be real.
She sat down.
For a while, she simply listened.
Her family laughed.
They talked.
Nothing strange happened.
And yet...
Something felt wrong.
Lina looked at the clock.
8:15.
She looked away.
Then looked back.
8:15.
Her eyes narrowed.
She watched the second hand.
It didn't move.
Lina stood.
Her mother stopped smiling.
"Where are you going?"
Lina didn't answer.
She looked around the room.
Everything was perfect.
Too perfect.
The same sunlight.
The same sounds.
The same movements.
Her brother laughed.
Then laughed again.
Exactly the same laugh.
Lina's stomach dropped.
"No."
The room went silent.
Her family stared at her.
Lina took a step backward.
"This isn't real."
Her mother stood.
"Lina."
The voice was wrong.
Not her mother's voice.
Not quite.
Lina closed her eyes.
She saw the tree.
The runes.
The clearing.
The path she had left behind.
She opened her eyes.
"I have to go."
Her mother reached for her.
"Stay."
Lina's heart broke.
For one terrible moment, she almost did.
Then she whispered,
"I sorry, I can't."
The room shattered.
Lina opened her eyes.
She fell.
She hit the ground hard and rolled.
Pain shot through her shoulder.
She pushed herself upright.
She was no longer home.
She was in a forest.
Dark trees surrounded her.
Smoke filled the air.
Something was burning nearby.
Then she heard a scream.
Lina immediately got to her feet.
"Hello?"
Another scream.
She ran toward it.
A figure was trapped beneath a fallen tree.
Lina rushed forward.
Then something moved behind her.
Two pale eyes stared from the darkness.
A creature stepped into the open.
It was lean and fast, with long limbs and claws that scraped against the ground.
Lina lowered herself instinctively.
Her training took over.
The creature lunged.
She moved.
Its claws sliced through the air where her head had been.
Lina struck its side.
It barely reacted.
It attacked again.
She dodged.
Again.
Again.
She turned.
It was getting faster.
Lina's breathing became heavier.
She couldn't keep this up.
Behind her, the trapped figure cried out.
"Please!"
Lina glanced back.
The creature charged.
She turned and raised her arms.
The impact sent her crashing to the ground.
Pain exploded through her body.
The creature advanced.
Lina forced herself upright.
She was afraid.
Terrified.
But she stepped between it and the trapped stranger anyway.
"You're not getting past me."
The creature roared.
It charged.
Lina raised her hands.
Something inside her answered.
Warmth exploded through her chest.
Golden light burst from her palms.
The creature was thrown backward.
Lina stared at her hands.
The light flickered around her fingers.
Then vanished.
Silence.
She turned toward the person she had been protecting.
But there was no one there.
The fallen tree was gone.
The forest was gone.
The creature was gone.
Lina stood alone.
Then everything dissolved.
She opened her eyes again.
This time, she wasn't in the forest.
She was standing on a hill.
The world below her was burning.
Lina couldn't move.
A city stretched across the valley, but it was nothing like the world she knew.
Ancient towers stood broken against a blackened sky.
Strange lights flickered between the ruins.
Then one by one, they began disappearing.
Lina felt it.
The energy in the air.
The same energy she had sensed when she first arrived.
Only now it was dying.
She watched as glowing symbols faded from the walls.
Trees withered.
The lights vanished.
Magic was disappearing.
Lina turned.
Someone was standing behind her.
A figure wrapped in darkness.
She couldn't see their face.
"Who are you?"
The figure didn't answer.
Lina took a step closer.
The ground trembled.
She looked toward the horizon.
Something enormous moved behind the clouds.
Then she heard voices.
Hundreds of them.
Whispering.
Calling.
Warning.
She couldn't understand the words.
Then, suddenly, she heard one sentence clearly.
"You cannot save what you refuse to become."
Lina froze.
The figure disappeared.
The world went white.
Lina gasped.
She was back in the clearing.
Back beneath the ancient tree.
Her hand was still raised.
Only now, her fingers were touching the bark.
The runes blazed with golden light.
Lina stared at them, breathing hard.
She looked around.
The clearing was peaceful.
Nothing had changed.
Yet she knew something had.
She didn't understand the visions.
She didn't know what was real and what wasn't.
She didn't know who the stranger had been.
Or what the burning world meant.
But somewhere deep inside her, she understood one thing.
Those visions had not been shown to her for no reason.
Lina slowly turned her palm against the tree.
The warmth in her chest surged.
The ancient tree seemed to breathe.
And for the first time, the golden light did not come from the runes.
It came from her.