The Sky Abyss did not allow silence.
Even when no one spoke, the wind filled every space—curling around stone, slipping through cracks, whispering in tones that almost formed words. Kael felt it pressing against him constantly, not like force, but like attention.
The next floating island drifted close enough for them to cross without a bridge. The air between shimmered faintly, thickening just long enough to support their weight before thinning again behind them.
Lira was the first to step across.
She moved carefully, but without fear.
Kael noticed that.
She had changed.
Not in the loud, obvious ways power usually announced itself, but in something quieter—her posture, her gaze, the way she didn't look back for reassurance anymore. When she reached solid ground, she turned and extended her hand.
Kael took it.
The island they landed on was different from the first. This one was scarred—deep gouges carved into its surface, as if something massive had been dragged across it long ago. Shattered remnants of stone structures lay half-buried in pale grass, their edges worn smooth by centuries of wind.
Maelor slowed, his expression unreadable. "This was once a sanctuary."
"For who?" Lira asked.
Maelor's staff traced a shallow groove in the ground as he walked. "For those who listened too closely to the sky."
Kael frowned. "That doesn't help."
Maelor glanced at him. "It isn't meant to."
As they moved deeper into the island, the wind began to change. It no longer rushed past them in wild currents. Instead, it circled—slow, deliberate, coiling around their legs and shoulders like invisible fingers.
Kael's dragon stirred uneasily.
This place remembers pain, it whispered. And repetition.
Without warning, a voice echoed—not inside their minds this time, but carried clearly on the wind.
"Do you hear it too?"
Lira froze.
Kael spun toward the sound, silver flame flickering instinctively along his veins. "Who's there?"
From behind a broken pillar stepped a figure—young, no older than Kael by appearance, dressed in layered robes of pale gray that blended almost perfectly with the sky. Their eyes were unfocused, distant, as if always listening to something no one else could hear.
Maelor stiffened.
"A Listener," he muttered.
The figure tilted their head. "I prefer Echo-Bound."
Lira stepped forward before Kael could stop her. "You live here?"
The Echo-Bound smiled faintly. "Live is a generous word."
Kael watched closely. There was no malice in them. No hunger. No threat he could sense—only exhaustion so deep it felt ancient.
"What do you hear?" Kael asked.
The Echo-Bound's gaze snapped to him. "You."
The wind surged.
Kael staggered as fragments of sound flooded his mind—roaring skies, cracking stone, screams torn away mid-breath. He dropped to one knee, clutching his head.
Lira moved instantly.
She planted herself between Kael and the Echo-Bound, hands raised, eyes blazing with starlit intensity. The air around her shimmered—not violently, but with quiet authority.
"That's enough," she said. "You don't get to tear him apart just because you're curious."
The Echo-Bound blinked, startled. "I didn't mean to—"
Maelor slammed his staff down.
The wind snapped outward, forcing distance between them.
"You never mean to," Maelor said coldly. "That's the problem."
The Echo-Bound recoiled, shame flickering across their face. "He carries too many voices. They overlap. They scream. I thought—if I listened long enough—I could understand why."
Kael forced himself upright, breathing hard. "Why what?"
"Why the sky fears you."
Silence fell.
Lira didn't look at Kael when she spoke. "The sky fears a lot of things."
The Echo-Bound studied her now. "Not like this."
Above them, the clouds churned, darkening slightly. Far off, another floating island shifted position, its shadow sliding slowly across the void below.
Maelor turned away. "We don't linger. Not here."
As they left the Echo-Bound behind, Kael glanced back once.
The figure stood alone among the ruins, head tilted upward, listening.
The wind followed them as they moved deeper into the Sky Abyss.
And with every step, Kael felt it growing more aware of him—measuring, waiting.
Somewhere ahead, the sky was preparing a test.
And this one would not be gentle.