Silence did not return after the light.
It fractured.
Like glass that refuses to settle back into a single shape.
I could hear everything at once.
Rylan calling my name.
Mara shouting something I couldn’t process.
Kell barking orders in the distance.
And beneath all of it—
a second rhythm.
Calmer.
Older.
Not louder.
Just closer.
I opened my eyes.
But I wasn’t sure which “eyes” were open.
The courtyard was still there.
Moonridge was still there.
But layered over it—
another version of it existed at the same time.
Faint.
Transparent.
Like two realities pressed together but not aligned.
Rylan was in front of me.
But I could also see him a fraction of a second behind where he stood.
Two versions.
Slightly out of sync.
His hand reached for me.
I felt it—
twice.
Once
