The new world had grown quiet.
Not the silence of emptiness—the silence of peace. The fragments danced softly among the trees of light. The shadows flowed through the rivers of silver. The echoes sang in the warm stars above. The Ancients moved among them, their vast forms gentle, their ancient eyes filled with wonder.
Ryan stood on a hill of silver grass, watching it all.
Mira was beside him, her silver eyes calm. "It's beautiful, Dada."
"It is."
"The Source's light—it's still inside you. I can feel it."
Ryan looked at his hands. The soft gold light pulsed gently, in rhythm with his heartbeat.
"It's part of me now," he said. "Part of all of us."
---
The twilight woman appeared beside them.
Her form was solid now, warm, real. The void shadow stood beside her, its darkness soft an
