AFTER THE LIGHT
Silence fell where Alpha Ridge had stood.
Not the gentle quiet of snowfall or dawn—but a hollow, stunned absence, as if the world itself had forgotten how to breathe.
Aria felt it before she understood it.
The bond—their bond—had gone dark.
No warmth.
No answering presence.
No steady pull anchoring her soul to his.
Just emptiness.
“Lykos…” Her voice cracked as she whispered his name into the void.
The cavern beneath the world convulsed one last time, then stilled. The blinding surge of moonlight faded to a low, trembling glow, illuminating fractured stone and drifting ash. The First Oath—no longer a rigid lattice of law—hung suspended around her like shattered constellations, fragments of meaning slowly reweaving themselves into something uncertain, unfinished.
B
