⟡ Chapter 22: The Illusion of Realms
They didn't sleep. Not a minute.
Not because of nightmares or ghosts, but because something in their skin told them not to close their eyes. Havella had leaned against a twisted root wall, arms folded, one foot resting on a stone. Jio sat nearby, fingers tracing the edge of his blade, not sharpening it — just feeling it.
And when the horizon finally cracked with amber light, they moved.
The Stillbone tribe didn't try to stop them. A few watched from the shadows of hides and trees, their expressions unreadable. One old man gave Jio a nod that didn't mean anything, but Jio returned it anyway.
The girl with the golden lines waited by the edge of the forest, where the roots thinned and the soil turned white and powdery. Her name, she had said once, was Vexi. Whether that was true or not, neither Jio nor Havella bothered asking again.
"You ready?" she asked.
"No," Havella replied, already walking.
"Good," Vexi smiled. "Means you'll keep your eyes open."
The forest behind them felt like a breath they'd finally exhaled. What lay ahead was not silence, but something heavier — anticipation disguised as calm. A place waiting to be stepped on.
White stone cracked beneath their boots. Vines hung from nowhere. The wind was still but moved like it had direction.
"This is the next island?" Jio asked.
Vexi tilted her head. "That's what it looks like."
Havella narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean looks like?"
"You'll see."
They moved through strange landscapes that made no sense. A spiral of black trees growing inward, water flowing uphill, broken staircases that led to flat ground. But none of it felt aggressive. It was simply... shaped differently.
"Feels like walking through someone's dream," Jio muttered.
"Almost right," Vexi said. "But dreams don't hold this much will."
They walked for hours, maybe more. The sky never changed.
At one point, they found a single chair made of stone, placed in the middle of a dried-up lake. No explanation. They didn't touch it.
Then the road began to shape itself. That's how it felt. The dirt flattened under their steps, old markings revealed, ancient script carved into the walls of a canyon none of them had seen until it was right in front of them.
And then — the shift.
Vexi stopped mid-step.
"This isn't supposed to be here," she whispered.
Jio felt the change, too. The ground had gone cold, the sky now dimmer than before.
They stood before a massive stone gate, half-buried in twisted roots. Symbols covered its surface — dozens of them — none familiar.
"What is this?" Havella asked.
Vexi stepped forward, placed her hand against the gate.
"An Elder Tomb..." she said slowly. "I've only heard stories."
"Good ones?"
"No."
Jio's hand went to his blade.
"Can we go around it?"
"No one walks past an Elder Tomb unless they go through it," she replied. "That's the rule."
As if in response, the gate opened on its own.
Darkness waited beyond, soft and deep like velvet.
Jio looked at Havella. Havella looked at him.
Neither said anything. They just walked.
Vexi followed.
And the gate sealed shut behind them.
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End of Chapter 22
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