In a place where time no longer followed the rules of the world Keal had known, he walked. Or drifted. Or simply existed.
The Mirror Temple had crumbled behind him long ago, yet fragments of its reflection clung to his senses. Keal had found himself alone—cut off, not just from his family, but from anything real. The landscape shifted constantly: forests that turned into oceans; skies that blinked between storm and stars. Sound had no echo here. Thought barely stuck.
He had learned not to trust the ground.
He had learned not to speak aloud—there was nothing to answer.
Until now.
A voice.
“You’ve lingered longer than most.”
Keal froze.
There was no shape. No body. Just the voice, as though spoken from behind a wall of mirrors. It echoed without bouncing, struck his spine without bre
