He closed his eyes, and the world fractured. Not into chaos, but into an expanse of purest white, stretching infinitely in every direction, yet somehow contained within the confines of his own mind. The biting cold of the Silent Valley's inner chamber vanished, replaced by an ethereal chill that seeped into his spiritual core, not with pain, but with a profound, almost overwhelming serenity. He was adrift, yet anchored. Disembodied, yet intensely aware.
He sensed her before he saw her. A presence, ancient and vast, yet imbued with a delicate, almost sorrowful warmth. She appeared before him, a shimmering silhouette against the endless white, her form mirroring the sleeping woman in the crystal coffin. Her hair, like spun moonlight, cascaded around her, and her eyes, when they opened, were
