The six of them set off, moving across Ashar’s rebuilt world. What once was twisted terrain had begun to correct itself with each surge of Mae’s anomaly. What used to bend space now opened into fields of iridescent grass and obsidian trees with leaves like liquid silver. They walked for over an hour before they reached it, the place Ashar had brought Mae and Riven to before. A hollowed glade, quiet and pulsing with an unseen heartbeat. The central bench still sat in the center. Etched symbols now glowed faintly in the soil. The stone archways surrounding them curved toward the sky like guardians frozen in time.
Lucien slowed, eyes narrowing. “This place,” Mae turned to him, her brow raised. “You recognize it?” But it was Sethis who stepped forward, his jaw slack, expression unguarded for
