The Darkness of Unending Creation

They left at dawn.

Mist clung to the earth like a warning. The jungle exhaled around them—dense, humid, and strangely silent. Behind them, the last fire in Skotos flickered out, and with it, the only home many had ever known.

Tavin turned once.

Ema'Tari stood at the edge of the tree line, her staff glowing faintly with violet energy.

"Let them follow you, Pōwehi. That is what they want. You are the darkness they fear."

"If they chase you, we can rebuild. Let them burn themselves against your shadow."

He didn't answer—just nodded.

The weight of expectation, loss, and something he couldn't yet name settled on his shoulders as they vanished into the trees.

They walked for hours under a thick canopy of moss and screeching birds. Every now and then, a branch snapped in the distance or something too large rustled above.

Kaelara walked beside Tavin. Closer than necessary. She hadn't buttoned her travel cloak properly. Whether it was heat or showmanship, Tavin couldn't tell.

"You really gonna keep ignoring me?" she asked, brushing her arm against his again.

"I'm not ignoring you."

"Oh, good. So you are pretending not to look."

He sighed.

Niah, a few paces behind, groaned audibly.

 Sisters in the Night:

The fire crackled gently under the stars. Tavin asleep as he needed to keep watch lateron. Shadows danced across Kaelara's skin as she sat, polishing her blade. Niah sat opposite her, arms wrapped around her knees, a faint flicker of ghost flame in her palms.

Kaelara broke the silence.

"So. What does it feel like?"

Niah blinked. "What?"

"Resonance."

Niah looked away. "Like falling. But not down. Inward. And then… like you're not alone anymore."

Kaelara's face darkened. "You're not worried what it means? That we're bound to him?"

Niah's voice was sharp. "We're not bound. We're chosen. There's a difference."

Kaelara smirked faintly. "Sounds like something a girl with a glowing mark would say."

"Jealous?"

Kaelara leaned back, arms behind her head, her torso stretching beneath her open wrap. "Terrified," she said softly.

Niah glanced up.

Kaelara looked away.

"I felt it. Just before I killed the Tidebinder. The Gate reached for me. But it didn't take me."

"And now?"

Kaelara swallowed. "Now I think it's waiting. For me to stop being afraid of what it means."

Niah stood slowly and tossed a blanket toward her sister.

"Maybe start by keeping your damn shirt on around him."

Kaelara laughed, but didn't deny it.

Dream of the Third:

That night, the Gate opened again — not in the real world, but in Tavin's mind.

He stood in the heart of the obsidian pyramid. The air was heavy with prophecy. Violet flames flickered on either side of him. The same dream. But this time, she was there.

The girl.

She stood barefoot on black stone, wrapped in flowing white and gold robes. Her hair shimmered like starlight, but her face was hidden behind a veil of silk. Her arms were bound in silver, her presence luminous yet fragile.

Behind her loomed a faceless god made of glass and mirrored light, splintering and shifting like it was watching itself die.

"She remembers you," the Gate whispered."Even if she has never seen your face."

Tavin reached out.

She turned slightly.

"You are not the first."

Then the dream shattered.

The Horizon of Light:

By the seventh day, the jungle opened up.

Before them stretched the Lucian border — wide silver meadows, stepped ridges of pale stone, and towers of refracted crystal gleaming in the distance.

No birds sang here. The wind was still. Light curved strangely, like it was watching them.

They did not cross.

Not yet.

But Tavin stood there, staring into that quiet, polished land. And the Gate inside his arm pulsed — once.

Kaelara stepped up beside him. Her fingers brushed against his, just for a moment.

Niah stood on the other side, arms folded, her flame smoldering low.

None of them spoke.

Somewhere, beyond the light, the third priestess waited—unawakened, unknowing, and completely surrounded by a nation that outlawed foreign gods.