I was completely engulfed by the light.
In a single blink, I found myself in the courtyard, surrounded by howling wolves and writhing shadows. Then, like water, silence pressed down on me. The world was different. The glow from the fissure was no longer beneath my feet; it was now all over, seeping into a sky that wasn't really a sky.
The Cradle.
Deep as the breaking of mountains, its voice rolled through the silence. Finally.
When I turned, I saw nothing but silver stretching in all directions—no stone, no trees. And figures arose like mirages in the distance. Innumerable wolves are kneeling. Their bodies were light and shadow, and their eyes glowed molten.
And at the center stood the reflection.
Not flickering. Not half-real. Flesh. Alive. Smiling with my face.
“You’ve resiste
