Night came early, cloaking Veylaris in silver mist and restless shadows. Kaelen lay awake, the forge's heat still clinging to his skin, his thoughts tangled with memories and longing. The city's song—a low, ceaseless hum of magic and stone—lulled him to the edge of sleep, but did not claim him.
He closed his eyes. The ache inside him grew sharper, like a wound he could not name. Lanternlight flickered across the ceiling. Kaelen let his breath slow, trying to drift into the dreamscape he had always feared and hungered for.
As his consciousness slipped away, the world shifted. The hum of the city faded, replaced by a deeper silence—a hush broken only by the distant crash of waves and the hiss of molten rivers. Kaelen stood beneath a sky scattered with fractured stars. Islands of obsidian and crystal floated in an endless sea, their edges blurred by mist and memory. This was the Inner Domain: his soul's hidden cosmos, both sanctuary and snare.
He wandered the shifting terrain, feeling the pull of tides and the crackle of unseen fires. The air shimmered with possibility; every step left ripples in the starlit water. For as long as he could remember, he had come here in dreams, searching for something just out of reach.
Tonight, a presence stirred at the horizon—a figure emerging from the haze, her hair trailing like kelp, her eyes bright with sorrow and hope. Kaelen's heart pounded. He tried to speak, but the words caught in his throat.
The girl stepped onto the molten shore. For a moment, they simply stared at one another, the silence heavy with questions unspoken. Then, as if answering a call, she smiled—a trembling, uncertain thing—and reached out her hand.
Kaelen's fingers moved of their own accord. When their hands brushed, a surge of warmth and memory flooded him: laughter ringing in a sunlit garden, the crash of waves at midnight, a sense of wholeness he had never known in waking life.
Lysera. The name echoed through the Domain, and in that instant, he knew it was hers—and that she was as lost as he was.
"I see you," she whispered, voice trembling with wonder and fear.
Kaelen nodded, unable to speak, tears stinging his eyes. The landscape around them shimmered—fractured mountains healing, rivers flowing with new light. For the first time, the Inner Domain felt less like a wound, and more like a promise.
But just as they began to step closer, the Domain shuddered with distant thunder. Shadows coiled at the edge of sight, and a cold wind swept between them, tearing the connection away.
Kaelen awoke with a gasp, heart racing, the memory of Lysera's touch lingering like a half-remembered song. Across the Realms, Lysera stirred, her own tears fresh on her cheeks, her heart echoing the promise and pain of that midnight meeting.
The world itself seemed to hold its breath, sensing that something long divided had begun to heal