The First Dawn
Silence. Not the dead, hollow silence of the void after the Final Silence, but a living, breathing quiet, like the held breath of the world itself. It was the silence of a finished symphony, the final, resonant note hanging in the air, its vibration slowly fading into the fabric of reality.
Kaelen was the first to dare to shatter it. He took a hesitant step forward, the gravel crunching unnaturally loud under his boot. "Aris?" The name was a prayer, a plea, a question mark hanging in the cool, post-storm air.
She stood at the edge of the Tor, her back to them, looking out over an island reborn. The impossible auroras had faded, leaving a dawn sky of such pristine, heartbreaking blue it seemed newly painted. The very light looked different—sharper, cleaner, as if a film of
