Chapter 67
The rift pulsed like a heartbeat.
Not rapid. Not wild.Just steady. Like it had always been there—just waiting to be seen.
Kael stood before it at dawn, violet cloak brushing the dew-covered ground, his breath visible though the air was warm.
Eliendara stood beside him, arms folded, staring into the thin silver crack in the sky.
No wind.No heat.Just a silence so heavy it made the bones ache.
"It shouldn't exist," she said.
"I know."
"But it's not wrong either."
Kael nodded slowly. "Because it remembers us."
Behind them, Ravien approached with a group of scholars and flamebinders. They bowed, then kept their distance.
Ravien stepped forward cautiously.
"We sent flame echoes into it… and they never returned."
Kael didn't respond.
He reached out.
And the silver ripples responded to him.
Not violently. Not defensively.
Like a mirror recognizing its reflection.
"Don't," Eliendara warned.
But Kael already knew what he had to do.
That night, he sat beneath the fig tree again, gazing up at the quiet stars.
Eliendara joined him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You're thinking about stepping through."
"I'm thinking I may have already come from there."
She looked at him, heart tightening.
"Will I lose you again?"
He turned, brushing her cheek with a hand that flickered gently with light.
"Only if we stay still."
By morning, the Silver Rift had widened.
Not like a tear.
But like a door.
And from within… came a scent.
Not smoke. Not ash.
But something long forgotten by the world of flame:
Rain.
Kael stepped toward it.
Eliendara followed.
And behind them, the fire-worn kingdom held its breath.
🔮 Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 68: Beyond the Flame
Kael and Eliendara cross into the Rift—into a world where fire never ruled.
Where gods were born, but not of flame.
And where a name even Caedros feared…waits patiently for its final spark to return.