The dreams started the night Sera returned.
Lumi had been brave while her mother was gone. She'd trained with Elara, tended the garden, played the role of the strong older cousin who wasn't afraid of anything. But the moment Sera walked through the door, Lumi's composure cracked.
"You found something," she said. Her golden eyes were too bright. "Something old."
Sera knelt and pulled her close.
"How did you know?"
"It spoke to me." Lumi's voice was muffled against Sera's shoulder. "In my dreams. While you were gone. It knows my name."
---
That night, Lumi dreamed again.
She was standing in a vast darkness. No walls, no floor, no sky — just endless black in every direction, stretching farther than her mind could reach. The air was cold, colder than winter, and it smelled of nothing.
