CHAPTER 22: THE TRUE FORM OF AETHER
The silence that followed the collapse of the Gate of Oblivion did not feel like victory. It felt like a breath held too long, a fragile pause before something far worse emerged. The sky above Chicago, once torn apart by the vortex, now hung unnaturally still, its darkness deeper than before. No wind moved. No sound carried. Even the ruins of the city seemed frozen in anticipation, as if the world itself understood that what came next would decide everything. At the center of the broken streets stood Kevin, Rwanda, and Rowan, together, unbroken, yet far from safe. Their enemy had not fallen. It had only changed.
Aether descended slowly from the sky, his presence pressing down on the world like an unseen force. The shadows no longer swirled wildly arou
