The Barrier wasn't just a wall.It was a ceiling, a prison, and a reminder all at once.
It stretched over the world like a dome spun from pale fire. At dawn, it caught the sun and glowed like polished glass. At night, it shimmered faintly, bleeding colors into the dark sky. To priests, it was divine proof. To scholars, the work of the Seven Wizards of Old. To drunkards, a bedtime story.
To Kael, it was a cage.
He sat on the cliffside where the ocean kissed the edge of the Barrier. The dome bent down into the water like a blade, cutting the endless black waves. Foam hissed against the rocks below, spray catching the wind and settling on his lips with a bitter taste. He stared at that pale curve where sea and sky merged with the Barrier, squinting against the light.
His boots dangled loosely over the ledge, one hand resting on his knee, the other picking at a chipped stone. His hair was a mess, tossed back by the salt wind. He looked lazy. Almost asleep.
But his eyes didn't blink.
"Father…" he muttered, lips twitching into a crooked smirk. "Still out there, huh? Probably sitting on some beach, drinking wine with a mermaid. Lucky bastard."
He chuckled to himself, low and sour. "Or you're rotting in a monster's gut. Who knows? Either way, thanks for leaving me with these idiots."
The words were bitter, but the edge cracked with something softer. A wish buried under sarcasm.
Footsteps crunched against gravel behind him. He didn't turn.
"Figures you'd be here again," Lyra's voice cut sharp against the wind.
She stood a few paces back, arms folded, short black hair pressed against her cheeks by the sea breeze. Her eyes narrowed the way they always did, like she could cut a person just by looking. Strong-willed, stubborn, but the sort who kept the group from drifting apart.
Behind her came Darius. A mountain of a boy... no, a man, shoulders broad and posture stiff. His face was carved in stone, lips pressed thin, gaze heavy with judgment. He never wasted words, and when he spoke, it was like stone grating on stone.
And last, inevitably, came Rian. Grin wide, swagger in his step, hair tied loosely back. His eyes darted straight to Lyra. "Lyraaa," he crooned, hands spread like he'd been waiting all day for her glare. "Don't tell me you dragged us all the way up here just to babysit our little brooding poet again."
Kael smirked without looking. "Would've saved me the headache if I did jump."
"Don't tempt me," Rian shot back, laughing.
Lyra rolled her eyes. "Both of you shut it. Rian, stop breathing near me."
"Oh, cruel." Rian clutched his chest as if stabbed. "You wound me. I only breathe your air because it tastes sweeter."
"Keep it up," she hissed, "and you'll choke on it."
Darius finally spoke, his voice flat. "We should be training, not wasting time here. The Crucible won't wait for dreamers."
Kael tilted his head back, smirk widening. "Relax, stone-face. You'll break something with how tight your ass is clenched."
Rian barked a laugh. Lyra's lips twitched despite herself. Darius glared, but said nothing more.
For a moment, silence settled. Only the waves filled the gap. And in that silence, their thoughts wandered. Each of them carried a goal, an anchor dragging them forward.
Lyra's voice was the first to cut through. "I'll say it again. I'm going to be known. Not just a Discoverer. A name. The kind even nobles can't ignore."
Darius's eyes hardened. "I'll become a noble Discoverer. I'll earn my place in the Capital and defend humanity as it should be defended."
Rian leaned back against a rock, grin never fading. "Me? Simple. Riches. Fame. The biggest bed in the Capital and women fighting over it. Discoverers get paid more than kings, and if you're lucky, you come back with treasure. That's all I need."
His voice softened just slightly, almost swallowed by the wind. "That's all I've ever needed."
Kael's smirk thinned. He glanced at the Barrier one last time. "I just want my father. Dead or alive. Doesn't matter. I'm not swallowing a story. I'll find the truth myself."
Rian clapped slowly, mocking. "Beautiful. Truly inspiring. You've almost convinced me you're not just a miserable sack."
Lyra shot him a glare. "Don't."
But he smirked cruelly, leaning toward Kael. "Come on. We all lost our parents. At least we got bodies to bury. Maybe your old man's been monster shit for the last decade. Why else hasn't he come back?"
The words hung, heavy and sharp.
Kael's smirk didn't break, but his jaw tightened. "Maybe. Or maybe he's just hiding from you."
Rian laughed, but the sound came too loud, too forced. Lyra sighed. Darius stared into the horizon.
The silence returned. Thicker this time.
They climbed down from the cliff, boots hitting dirt roads as they made their way toward the village.
It was a crooked thing, nets hung over drying racks, huts leaning against one another, the air thick with salt and fish guts. Children darted barefoot through mud. Old men smoked by the docks, their faces carved with the same lines as the sea. The smell was sharp: seaweed, sweat, rot, and firewood.
This was their home. Their cage within a cage.
As they cut through the square, Rian froze mid-step. His grin faltered for the first time all day.
By the well, kneeling in the dirt, was Serene. Her long dark hair fell over her shoulders as she set down a basket of scraps for the stray cats that swarmed her ankles. She smiled softly at them, a smile too gentle for this place.
Rian's chest tightened.
Kael noticed. "Oh, look. Farmer's daughter. Feeding strays again. Careful, Rian, she might mistake you for one."
Rian forced a grin, raising a hand in lazy greeting. "Serene… didn't know you were still around. Miss me?"
She turned and froze. Her hands stilled mid-motion. Her lips parted, but no sound came out. Color bloomed on her cheeks. In a blink, she gathered her basket and fled, cats scattering in her wake.
Lyra arched a brow. "Smooth."
Rian smirked, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Can't blame her. I'm unforgettable."
Kael tilted his head. "Didn't you promise to marry her? What happened to that?"
Rian shrugged. "Told her the truth. I'm not the kind of man made for marriage."
They laughed, Lyra snorting, Kael grinning darkly. Even Darius shook his head.
But beneath the laughter, they knew better. They had grown up together, after all. They knew Rian's words were armor, same as Kael's smirk. They knew the truth he never said aloud: that he wanted a family more than anything, that he was terrified of becoming the man who left a child hungry at night, the way they all had been.
The school sat behind the village, a squat wooden building leaning against the hill, its roof patched a dozen times over. Smoke curled from its chimney. The old man would already be inside, waiting with his cane, his scars, and his endless patience for children who dreamed too big.
The four of them walked the dirt path together, the Barrier looming above, the sea at their backs, and the weight of their futures pressing down.
And that was how the day began.