The rain faded behind them as Kael, Lira, and Seren walked east.Morning light spilled through the mist, turning each blade of grass into silver glass.The air smelled of new beginnings — soft, wet earth and hope.
For the first time in days, Kael felt calm. The raindrop crystal given by the Warden hung around his neck, glowing faintly with warmth.
Lira walked beside him, skipping over puddles. "Do you think this road ever ends?"
Kael smiled. "Maybe roads don't end. They just change shape."
Seren, walking a few steps ahead, grunted. "I'll believe that when it leads us somewhere dry."
They laughed. The sound echoed faintly — and then, strangely, the echo didn't fade.It carried on, softer and softer, as though someone far away was laughing back.
By noon, the path led them to a narrow canyon where water shimmered like glass.A great river flowed below — wide and silent, yet its current seemed to move in two directions at once.One half of the river glided smoothly forward. The other flowed backward, like a mirror unspooling time.
Lira gasped. "How is that even possible?"
Seren crouched near the edge. "Magic. Or madness."
Kael knelt, touching the surface. The water felt strange — cool, but not cold. It pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.
Then came a whisper.
"Dream carefully, traveler."
Kael froze. The voice wasn't his imagination. It came from the river itself.
He pulled back his hand. "Did you hear that?"
Lira nodded slowly. "It spoke."
The water rippled again, and images flickered across it — moments from their lives, reflected like ghosts on the surface.
Kael saw himself standing in a burning field, shouting for someone he couldn't see.Lira saw her mother smiling, handing her a flower.Seren saw a broken sword, lying across a grave.
The river whispered once more:
"Drink, and dream what was lost. But remember — every dream has a price."
They followed the river until dusk, the sky painted in quiet gold. The path curved to a stone shrine standing at the water's bend.It was small — just a circle of smooth rocks with carvings of sleeping faces.
A faded inscription read:"To dream is to touch both what was and what may be."
Lira sat on one of the stones. "Do you think… if we drink from it, we could see the future?"
Kael's gaze lingered on the river. "Or the past."
Seren shook his head. "That's dangerous. The last time we trusted magic like this, we barely escaped alive."
But Kael wasn't listening. The whispers in the water had grown louder — not frightening, but gentle, like a mother calling a child home.
He stepped closer."What if we could learn what's coming?" he murmured. "Wouldn't that help us?"
Lira frowned softly. "Or hurt us."
Still, something in Kael's heart ached to know. He scooped a handful of the shimmering water and drank.
The taste was unlike anything he'd ever known — sweet and cold, like starlight melting on his tongue.The world blurred. The air thickened. He felt himself falling — not through space, but through time.
The canyon vanished. The sound of rushing water grew distant.
And then he was standing somewhere else.
He stood in a grand hall made of white stone, sunlight pouring through vast windows. People in silver robes bowed as he passed — their faces blurred like fading dreams.
A voice called out: "Master Kael, the council awaits."
He turned — and there she was. Lira, but older. Her eyes held both warmth and sorrow.
"Lira?" he whispered.
She smiled. "You found the way after all. But you came too late."
Behind her, Seren lay motionless on the floor, his sword shattered beside him.
Kael stumbled forward. "No—"
But the vision dissolved like mist.
He fell again — now into darkness, then into light.He saw countless moments flash by: himself as a boy, reaching for something that wasn't there; a girl's laughter; a door closing forever; and finally, stars falling into water.
The river whispered:
"Every dream you chase becomes part of you. But if you chase too many, you lose yourself."
Kael gasped and woke — back beside the riverbank, soaked in sweat.
Lira knelt beside him. "Kael! You were gone for hours. What did you see?"
He breathed heavily, staring at the glowing current. "Too much. Too fast."
Seren crossed his arms. "That's why I said not to drink it."
Kael shook his head. "It wasn't just a dream. The river showed what could happen. Maybe what will."
Lira's voice trembled. "Was it bad?"
He hesitated, then nodded. "We lose each other."
Silence. The river murmured softly beside them, as though it pitied their fear.
That night, they camped near the shrine. None of them slept easily. The river hummed beside them, flowing forward and backward in its endless dance.
Kael sat awake, watching its glow reflect across the dark water.
Lira spoke quietly. "Do you regret seeing it?"
He thought for a long time. "No. But I regret not being able to change it."
She smiled faintly. "Maybe the future isn't something to change. Maybe it's something to understand."
He looked at her, the moonlight glimmering in her eyes. "You sound like the river."
She laughed softly. "Then maybe the river dreams through us."
Before dawn, Kael took one last look at the water.He whispered, "Thank you," though he wasn't sure why.
The river answered — its surface rippling into words only he could read:
"Dreams are seeds. They grow where courage allows."
Kael smiled. "Then I'll keep dreaming."
The current shimmered brighter, then quieted, as if satisfied.
He turned to his friends. "Let's go. There's something waiting beyond these waters."
And together, they walked on — leaving behind the River That Dreams, carrying its memory in their hearts like a soft echo of destiny.