He closed his eyes and crashed into the dense foliage. The forest scraped his body as he dropped to the earth. Everything stopped. His heartbeat raced. He trembled. As he opened his eyes, he found himself floating on the aether. For the first time, he was in his own body.
A familiar meadow, embalmed by a golden haze, appeared through the foliage that spread from the top of the faelen tree. As the boy looked down from an omnipotent perspective, he had an epiphany. Everyone knew that the faelen tree was responsible for the equipoise blanketing the Eidolon Woods, but no Caliphian had ever seen how it was created—till now. The golden aether rose from the faelen tree’s buds like smoke from a chimney, swirling like fireflies in a tempest. The cry of a baby cut through the tranquility of the for
