That night, the same thin, trembling line appeared once more in the corner of her room.
But this time…
it didn't look like light.
It looked like something alive.
Each pulse of it shifted the air, pulling at Zamira's chest with a magnetic ache she didn't have a name for.
She slowly sat up on her bed.
No fear.
Not anymore.
Only a fierce pull—
a burning curiosity lighting up the center of her ribs.
The line widened.
And the room didn't brighten… the fabric of reality stretched.
Then—
crack.
A single sound.
And Zamira's soul slipped out of her body like a thin thread of breath.
She didn't feel herself leaving.
It was like blinking—
and when her eyes opened again…
she was not in her room.
---
🌒 The Shadow Realm
The ground beneath her feet shifted like liquid darkness.
The air was heavy but breathable—
cold, whispering, alive.
It was dark everywhere…
Yet somehow, she could see.
Shapes formed ahead of her.
A hall.
A rift.
And voices.
A deep, sharp whisper cut through the space:
"Zamira?"
Nayel.
But his voice wasn't steady this time.
It held something almost impossible—
Fear.
When she turned, her breath caught.
Taru, Darius, Liliana, Sirius, and Cebrail stood in a half-circle around a glowing fracture in the air.
Their eyes—every one of them—widened in disbelief.
Liliana gasped, "This… cannot be."
Taru's shadow surged violently.
"A human cannot CROSS on their own!"
Darius nearly growled, not out of anger but pure shock:
"Who pulled her?! Who opened this?!"
Cebrail stepped closer, calm where others panicked.
His voice wrapped around her like a warm, knowing breeze:
"No one pulled her."
He tilted his head slightly.
"She came on her own light."
Zamira heard every word—
though she couldn't understand them.
"Where… am I?" she whispered.
That was enough to break whatever restraint Nayel had left.
He moved to her.
Fast.
Faster than she had ever seen him.
His ice-blue eyes glowed against the darkness.
"This should not have happened," he said, almost breathless.
"Zamira, I need to send you back."
But the moment he reached toward her—
Zamira felt all five of them at once.
Taru's hot shadow-rage,
Darius's sharp and fragile edge,
Liliana's bright, curious energy,
Sirius's cold wisdom humming in the air,
Cebrail's warm, warning aura…
All five touched her.
And then—
the central pillar of the Shadow Hall cracked.
Sirius's eyes widened first.
"This is a destiny fracture," he breathed.
"The girl… is a catalyst."
Taru snarled, shadows lashing:
"That makes it worse! She could destroy us!"
Cebrail's voice cut through their panic like soft thunder:
"Or she could change all of us."
Zamira inhaled sharply.
This world…
was touching her.
Responding to her.
And she…
She felt all of them.
Then—
A white flash swallowed her.
She blinked—
and she was back in her room.
Same spot.
Same moment.
But everything was different.
Because five voices echoed through her mind:
"This is only the beginning…"