Kaelen
Morning broke over Veylaris, rain-silvered and raw. Kaelen sat on the edge of his narrow bed, hands trembling, the memory of the dream—no, the meeting—still burning in his mind. Had it truly been her? Was Lysera more than a phantom of longing, more than a name whispered by the stars?
He stared at the mark on his wrist. For the first time, it felt warm, alive—a thread connecting him to something vast and real. He pressed his thumb to it, half-hoping he might slip back into that fractured cosmos, half-fearing he never would again.
A knock at the door. Ryn's voice, low and worried. "Kaelen? You in there?"
Kaelen forced himself to his feet, opened the door. Ryn's gaze lingered on him, searching. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Maybe I have," Kaelen said, trying to smile. "Or maybe I saw something that's been missing for a long time."
Ryn hesitated, then clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Come on. The wardens want everyone at the main square. Something's happened by the Pillar."
As they hurried into the morning streets, Kaelen's senses felt sharpened, the world more alive. He caught snatches of overheard whispers—about a tremor in the Emerald Spire, a flock of strange birds circling the city, water pooling where it never had before. Everything felt out of balance, as if Veylaris itself had been shaken awake.
Kaelen's mind kept drifting to the Domain—the touch of Lysera's hand, the healing of the fractured landscape. He wondered if she remembered, if she was searching for him too. For the first time, hope and fear mingled in his chest, impossible to untangle.
Lysera
In Aquarion, Lysera stood at the water's edge, the tide swirling around her ankles. She watched the horizon, heart thrumming with the memory of the dream and the boy with the fire in his eyes.
All morning, the city buzzed with unrest. The tides had risen unexpectedly, flooding the lower gardens. The healers whispered of omens and portents, of old magic stirring in the deep. Selara found her by the shore, worry etched in her face.
"Lysera, are you all right? You've been distant since dawn."
Lysera hesitated, then nodded. "Something happened last night. I saw... someone. I think I know his name. Kaelen."
Selara's eyes widened in recognition—a name from a half-remembered story, a wound in the family tree. "The lost one?"
Lysera closed her eyes, letting the salt wind tangle her hair. "He's not lost. Not anymore. I think... I think he's searching for me, too."
She pressed her palm to her chest, feeling the pulse beneath her skin, the echo of another heartbeat far away. For the first time, the ache inside her felt less like emptiness and more like a promise.
As the wind whipped the water into whitecaps and the city braced for news from the Pillar, Lysera gazed out across the waves—knowing, somehow, that Kaelen was looking back.