The morning she left, the sea bled gold.
Not soft gold. Not the warm shimmer of dawn. No—this was a wound in the sky, leaking light like a dying sun.
Kael stood at the dock, fists clenched, watching her go.
He didn't speak.
Neither did Eira.
Words would have broken her.
She boarded the skiff Lysathe conjured—a vessel of blackwood and starlight, meant for two. The sails rippled with runes. The bow pointed west, toward the end of every map.
Naima pressed a silver vial into her palm. "For when the dark tries to eat you."
Eira tried to smile. Failed. "Thank you."
Kael met her eyes one last time.
"I hope you come back before you forget me."
She swallowed hard.
"I couldn't if I tried."
And then—she left him on the shore.
---
The Crossing
Lysathe did not speak for hours.
They passed into fog thicker than any natural mist. The sea grew still—unnaturally still—until it reflected the sky like a mirror. It was impossible to tell where the world ended and the water began.
Eira sat at the prow, watching the horizon refuse to move.
"Why didn't you try to stop me?" she asked.
Lysathe replied without turning. "Because fate has already begun to burn."
They sailed through dusk that never became night, through storms that never touched the sails. Time blurred.
Then the wind died.
And something ahead began to breathe.
---
The Gate
It wasn't a door, not truly.
It was a fracture—a gash torn across the air, stitched with flame and void. Shapes moved inside it. Whispers coiled around the edges like fog.
Eira stepped toward it.
Lysathe grabbed her wrist. "You enter this gate, you leave yourself behind."
"I'm not here for myself."
Lysathe's eyes sharpened. "You may not find him. You may find only what the Hollow wants you to see."
"I'll find the truth," Eira said.
And with a breath… she stepped through.
---
The Hollow Realm
It was quiet.
Not silent—quiet, like the breath held before the scream.
She stood in a forest of bones. Trees made of ash and light. The sky was velvet-black, torn by veins of flickering red. The ground pulsed under her bare feet.
Eira's flame flickered, uneasy.
Then she saw him.
Her twin.
Standing in a clearing of scorched stone, eyes pale and burning.
He wore no crown, no armor.
Just a threadbare tunic, like he'd been waiting for her in the same place all his life.
"Hello, sister," he said softly.
She exhaled. "You're real."
His smile was broken-glass and heartbreak.
"I'm everything they didn't tell you about."
---
Blood Ties
He didn't move as she stepped closer.
She circled him, heart hammering, unsure if she wanted to touch him or run.
"You let everyone believe you didn't exist."
"I didn't," he said. "They buried half of me when they crowned you with fire."
"And the Hollow?"
"He found me. He needed me. Just like you do."
She stopped. "I don't need the Hollow. I'm not like you."
He tilted his head.
"But we are the same, Eira. You and I—we are twin flames. One to burn the world… one to remember it."
She shook her head. "I came here to save you."
His expression twisted, almost lovingly.
"No. You came here to become what you were meant to be."