Erynd woke to rain.
Not the gentle kind.
The heavy, indifferent kind that fell whether the world deserved it or not.
His eyes opened slowly, black lashes clumped with water, scars dim but alive across his skin. Every breath felt like lifting a mountain that did not want to move.
He was alone.
That hurt more than the pain.
"Lyra?" he whispered.
No answer.
He found the truth at the edge of the camp.
A circle of burned ground. No blood. No body.
Only a mark carved into stone with shaking hands.
I chose.
Erynd collapsed to his knees.
The weight inside him shifted—unbalanced.
Lyra had done what he could not.
She had taken a choice that no oath demanded.
And paid for it.
The world moved on.
That was its cruelty.
And its mercy.
Cities rebuilt without divine mandates. Some failed. Some thrived. People argued, ruled, rebelled, loved, and ruined things without asking permission from the sky.
The Devourer slept within Erynd—not silent, but muted, dreaming of chains that would never quite fit again.
The Watcher watched.
And did nothing else.
Caelis returned one last time.
He found Erynd on a hill overlooking a valley filled with lights—homes, not shrines.
"You're still carrying it," Caelis said.
"Yes," Erynd replied.
"Forever?"
Erynd shook his head. "Until the world no longer needs a place to put its fear."
Caelis smiled sadly. "That might take a while."
Erynd almost smiled back.
Years passed.
The scars faded into thin silver lines.
Children were born who never knew gods.
They learned choice like a language—imperfectly, painfully, beautifully.
Some nights, when the world leaned too hard toward certainty, Erynd felt the Devourer stir.
And he stood.
Not as savior.
Not as judge.
As weight.
As consequence.
As reminder.
On the last page of history written in that age, someone scratched a single line:
Freedom did not come from gods falling.
It came from someone staying.
Erynd stood at the edge of the world, rain soaking into black hair, scars warm but steady.
He did not swear.
He did not rule.
He chose.
Again.
End of Book Two – The Weight of choice