The sun shone brightly over the city as Serena walked along its streets.

  “Where am I?” she asked softly, looking around.

  The structures were unlike anything in Aurelith. Homes rose on either side of the road, their walls smooth and pale brown, built in near-perfect rectangular forms. They lacked traditional roofs, their silhouettes clean and uniform. The streets were crowded, bustling in fact, and grew more so the farther she walked. Timid and shy, Serena moved with her head lowered, blending into the crowd as best she could. Only after several steps did the realization settle in. These weren’t humans. The pointed ears were impossible to ignore. Every face she passed belonged to her own kind.

  Alvarynn.

  “Excuse me,” she said, approaching a man with dark skin and brown hair, dressed in strange garments. Cloth draped from one shoulder to his waist, another wrapped across his chest like a blanket. “What place is this? And why is everyone gathered here?”

  “What was that, little one?” the man replied, turning toward her.

  “Can you tell me where I am?” Serena asked again.

  “Ah,” the man said with a wide, easy smile. “You’re in Alphard City, young one. We’re celebrating its founding.”

  “Alphard City?” Serena echoed, tilting her head. “Its… founding?”

  The man nodded. “That’s right.” He gestured ahead. “The Stewards are gathered in the central Temple today, offering prayers to the Creators before the celebration begins.”

  Serena followed his gaze and froze.

  In the distance lay a lake of perfect circular shape, its waters still as glass. At its center rose a towering spire of pure marble, taller than anything she had ever seen, gleaming brilliantly as it caught the sunlight.

  “Who are the Stewards?” she asked.

  “Hm? You don’t know?” The man looked more confused than she felt. He cupped his chin thoughtfully. “Well, you could say they are—”

  He never finished.

  Screams erupted behind them.

  Serena turned as calm shattered into chaos. People fled in every direction, panic rippled through the streets. Above, the sky darkened unnaturally, and only then did she notice the glowing orbs falling from the heavens.

  Fireballs.

  They descended like falling stars, slamming into the city. Lightning followed, tearing down from the clouds and striking the streets, rooftops, and towers alike.

  “What’s happening?” Serena cried.

  Beside her, the man stood strangely still.

  He watched the fleeing crowd. Then the sky. Then Serena.

  She turned to him. “What is it?” she asked.

  He studied her for a long moment.

  “You’re not from here, are you?” he said quietly.

  “You’re not of this time.”

  “What do you mean?” Serena asked, her voice trembling.

  The man pointed across the road, to a lone door set into the wall of a building, shut tight and untouched by the chaos.

  “Go to that door,” he said. “They’re here. You must leave.”

  Serena hesitated until a large, blue-hued fireball crashed down only a few paces away, the heat washing over her.

  “Come with me!” she shouted. “Please!”

  He shook his head gently.

  “We who belong here must remain, young one.”

  Another explosion shook the ground.

  Heart pounding, Serena ran for the door. Just before she reached it, she glanced back.

  “Keep walking,” the man shouted over the thunder, “until you find the right path!”

  She didn’t understand, but there was no time.

  Serena pushed the door open.

  And stepped into the void.

  Maintaining her pace, Serena found herself in a dim chamber filled with scrolls, open parchments, quills, and instruments she did not recognize. The air smelled faintly of ink and dust. Directly ahead stood another door, slightly ajar, pale light seeping through its narrow opening.

  Slowly, she approached it, uncertain of what awaited her beyond.

  Even before she touched the door, a man’s voice thundered from outside.

  “Move! Faster!” he barked. “That obelisk won’t raise itself!”

  Serena pulled the door open.

  The sight beyond stole her breath.

  She stood overlooking another city. Vast and magnificent, far grander than anything she had ever seen. The road alone stretched wider than Aurelith’s central avenues, and towering structures rose before her, several dwarfing even the royal palace. In the distance, tall, silk-white triangular spires pierced the sky like spears of marble.

  Below, hundreds of men strained together, hauling a massive tower-like construct along the road, shouting repeatedly as it scraped forward.

  Serena realized she was standing upon a broad balcony.

  Only a few paces away, a man sat upon a chair of gold. Armed figures stood at his sides, scabbards hanging at their belts, silent and unmoving.

  Then she noticed someone further behind the chair.

  Approaching, her steps slowed.

  The figure lacked pointed ears.

  Serena hurried closer and stopped, confusion and horror twisting together in her chest.

  The person was a child. A human boy, no older than herself.

  His eyes were sunken, his cheeks hollow, his ribs faintly visible beneath his skin. He was clearly underfed. But what struck Serena most was the metal ring locked around his neck, a chain extending from it, fastened to a pole planted near the golden chair.

  “Why are you chained?” Serena asked urgently. “Let me set you free.”

  She grasped the chain and pulled, straining until her hands trembled. It didn’t budge. She tried again, then reached for her magic.

  Nothing happened.

  The boy watched her quietly as she struggled.

  “It’s pointless,” he said at last.

  “No, it isn’t,” Serena insisted, tugging again, her voice breaking.

  “My time will come soon,” the boy said softly, “whether you free me or not.” He lifted his gaze and pointed past her. “But you… you must keep going.”

  Serena froze, chest tight.

  She followed his finger.

  There, standing alone beyond the balcony’s edge, was another door shut tight.

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  Serena looked up at him. His expression had not changed.

  “What… what about you?”

  “There are things,” he said, his voice almost a whisper, “that you must let go.”

  Reluctantly, she rose to her feet and walked toward the door, pulling it open. Before stepping through, she glanced back one last time. The boy’s chains were being tugged now, the man on the golden chair already drawing him away.

  The boy met her gaze.

  He gave her a single, quiet nod.

  Serena stepped through and shut the door behind her.

  She emerged into yet another city, one just as grand as the last.

  She walked among a gathered crowd, their numbers pressing close on all sides. In front of her loomed a massive structure crowned by a great dome. Whether the dome was merely its roof or the entire structure itself, she couldn’t tell through the sea of bodies. Surrounding them from a distance were tall, rectangular towers of glass and crystal, their surfaces gleaming faintly. Even the ground beneath her feet was smooth stone, polished to an unnatural sheen.

  Once again, Serena felt that same unease.

  “Why are you all gathered here?” she asked, unsure of who she was talking to.

  “They said a disease was spreading,” the woman beside her replied. “We’re here to receive the cure.”

  Serena turned to her. The woman was Alvarynn.

  “A disease?” Serena asked.

  The woman nodded.

  “Yes. And we believed them.”

  Serena stared at her, wanting to ask more,

  but without warning, the woman shoved her.

  Serena fell hard to the ground.

  In the same instant, a shimmering barrier surged up between her and the crowd.

  She scrambled to her feet and rushed forward, but her hands struck an invisible wall. It didn’t bend. It didn’t crack.

  “What happened?” Serena cried. “What’s going on?”

  From the other side, panic erupted.

  “Why are you locking us in?!”

  “Please let us out!”

  “Take my children, please!”

  “This is the end for us,” the woman said quietly.

  As she spoke, a dark cloud descended from above, seeping slowly into the sealed space.

  Serena’s breath caught.

  Inside the barrier, people screamed and coughed. Some clutched one another, hands trembling. Others pulled their loved ones close, shielding mouths, pressing foreheads together, bracing for what was coming.

  “Please,” Serena sobbed, pressing her palms against the barrier. “Let me help you. I can get you out.”

  She tried to use her magic again.

  Nothing happened.

  The woman smiled gently as the cloud crept closer.

  “What has passed cannot be changed,” she said, then lifted her hand and pointed beyond Serena. “But you can still shape what is to come.”

  Tears streaming down her face, Serena turned and ran toward the open door.

  Just before she reached it, a strange purple light flared behind her.

  She turned.

  Above the sealed barrier, a crystal was forming, growing slowly, pulsing with an unnatural violet glow.

  She watched, frozen, until a voice spoke.

  “Keep going...”

  The world snapped,

  and she stepped through the door, unprepared for what lay beyond.

  Serena found herself in a vast chamber next.

  Crystalline coffins filled the center of the room, arranged in solemn rows, their surfaces catching and refracting the dim light. Far ahead, a towering wall of glass rose into the darkness. A strange glow obscured whatever lay beyond it, preventing Serena from making out its shape, yet somehow, she could hear something coming from the other side.

  Low.

  Deliberate.

  Rhythmic thuds.

  A heartbeat.

  At the foot of one coffin stood a lone woman.

  She wore a black robe that concealed her from head to toe. On her back, stitched in pale thread, twin serpents twisted around one another, forming a spiral.

  Serena stepped closer, drawn toward her,

  when the woman spoke.

  “Despicable,” she said, her voice low and trembling with restrained fury. “Repulsive abominations.”

  Serena froze.

  There was hatred in those words, heavily contained rage.

  The woman laid a hand upon the crystalline coffin before her.

  “Is this my penance?” she murmured. “My punishment?”

  Her fingers tightened against the crystal.

  “For not listening?” she continued. “To be forced to endure being surrounded by these vile creations?”

  Serena’s breath caught.

  What is she talking about? she wondered.

  “Karina,” a man said suddenly, his voice cutting through the chamber, “are the subjects ready?”

  Serena turned sharply.

  She knew that voice.

  A chill crawled up her spine as a tall man stepped through a large open doorway at the far end of the room. His skin was dark, his hair shoulder-length and gray, framing a face marked by age and resolve. He wore an ornate black robe, far more elaborate than Karina’s, its hood lowered to reveal eyes that gleamed an unnatural red.

  “They are, Master,” Karina replied without hesitation.

  The man approached the crystalline coffin before her, his gaze fixed upon it.

  “This is our—my—last chance,” he said quietly. “If this fails—”

  “I am certain you will succeed, Master Machaon,” Karina interrupted gently. “You’ve worked tirelessly. You’ve poured years of your life into this.”

  Machaon let out a slow breath.

  “If only time and effort guaranteed success,” he said. “Alas… Their Eminences care only for results.”

  “Will Their Eminences be present, Master?” Karina asked.

  “I have not informed them yet,” Machaon replied. “They are in the Temple of Guidance. Disturbing them now might provoke… unwanted emotions.”

  Karina hesitated, then inclined her head.

  “May I suggest we summon them after the first trials?” she said carefully. “It would be prudent to ensure everything is prepared before they arrive.”

  Machaon studied her in silence.

  At last, he nodded.

  “I suppose we can.”

  “I shall prepare at once for our departure,” Karina said.

  She turned and left.

  Serena watched her go, unable to look away. Beneath the mask, an unnatural emerald glow burned in Karina’s eyes. There was something about her, something that pulled at Serena’s attention. Even as Karina crossed the threshold, her gaze lingered.

  Then the door closed.

  Serena turned back to the chamber,

  and froze.

  Machaon was still standing where he had been.

  But now, he was staring directly at her.

  His eyes were wide. Unblinking.

  Serena’s brows knit in confusion. She didn’t know whether to move, to speak, or to run.

  “You…” Machaon began, his voice faltering.

  Then it sharpened.

  “Why are you standing there?!”

  Serena took a step back.

  In a flash of warped light, an axe formed in Machaon’s grasp. He advanced slowly, gaze locked onto her.

  “Who are you?” he demanded. “Are you—are you here to ruin my work?!”

  “No—please,” Serena said, her voice trembling. “I—I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

  Machaon’s lips curled, his eyes burning brighter.

  “I was trusted by Her Eminence to succeed,” he said, and his voice fractured, overlapping with itself, as though more than one of him were speaking at once.

  “I will not allow you to ruin her trust.”

  Machaon lunged at her the instant he finished speaking, screaming in an unnaturally high, fractured voice that sounded like many voices layered atop one another.

  Serena barely had time to react. She leapt aside as the axe tore through the air where she had been.

  It struck the stone floor with a deafening crack, and stuck fast.

  Machaon wrenched at it, but even as he struggled, his gaze never left her. His head twisted unnaturally, spinning far beyond what should have been possible, tracking Serena no matter where she moved.

  With a violent jerk, he tore the axe free and charged again.

  Serena raised her hands instinctively, magic flaring as she deflected the blow. The force sent the weapon skidding across the floor.

  Machaon did not slow.

  He surged forward, his form unraveling into shadow as he moved, edges blurring, limbs stretching and warping as though he were no longer fully bound to shape.

  Serena turned and ran.

  “Come back here!” Machaon shrieked, his voice echoing and overlapping, wrong in every way.

  She reached another door and slammed into it, throwing it open just as the shadow lunged after her.

  The corridor beyond swallowed her in darkness.

  As she ran, voices rose around her, too many to count, whispering, pleading, screaming, all at the same time, closing in from every direction.

  In the midst of it all, three voices somehow took her attention, as though they had been waiting for her the whole time.

  Let her watch, let her see what we’ve built.

  There is no back, only forward, toward the end.

  I will always hold you.

  “Whose voices are these?” Serena thought as she ran. Then the darkness shifted. The shadows began to move, parting just enough for a tiny sliver of light to reveal itself at the far end.

  Serena ran toward it.

  The space around her trembled, as though reality itself were straining, on the verge of tearing apart and collapsing inward. More voices followed, higher now, trembling, unmistakably those of children.

  We won’t make it!

  Take my hand! Please, trust me!

  Are we going to die?

  “Where are they coming from?” she asked herself.

  And then the final whisper came.

  A promise she had never heard, never made, yet somehow knew by heart.

  We will see another tomorrow…

  Then it all stopped,

  all at once.

  Serena skidded to a halt, her breath ragged. She stood still, unsure whether she had escaped… or whether the madness had simply gone quiet.

  Slowly, she lowered her gaze.

  Then she closed her eyes.

  “Please,” she whispered. “Just a sign. Anything.”

  A voice broke through the silence.

  Renault! It’s coming!

  Serena’s eyes flew open. “That voice…”

  Get behind me, Odilon! Quickly!

  Air rushed into her lungs like fire.

  Then came the shriek.

  That familiar, rasping, inhuman cry,

  a multitude of voices screaming as one.

  Come to me! Release me!

  This way, monster! Renault shouted.

  And then,

  a final scream tore through the air.

  Light exploded outward, the sliver she had chased bursting wide, flooding the darkness, swallowing the Abyss whole.

  Serena looked around, then slowly resumed walking.

  What do you think, Serena?

  I’m so glad you’re awake…

  Serena’s breath hitched.

  “Edmund’s voice…”

  That does not change what she is.

  She doesn’t have to.

  Not for me, nor for anyone.

  At last, as the prince’s words reached her, the voices began to fade. In their place, images surfaced—Aurelith’s royal palace, Idun’s home, the forest, the city—layered atop one another.

  “You have escaped the Abyss, it seems,” a woman’s voice said. It was unlike any Serena had heard before, as though the speaker were inhaling even as she spoke, her words echoing through the chamber.

  “This day truly is a bad day to be the villain.”

  “Who’s there?” Serena shouted.

  The air before her shuddered.

  Gradually, a form took shape. Tall and slender, unmistakably feminine, wreathed in vivid violet flames that gave no warmth. Most of her body remained swallowed by shadow, long flowing garments, or perhaps veils, trailing from her like drifting smoke.

  Her hair rose and coiled around her head, writhing as though alive, tendrils twisting and curling like serpents stirred from sleep.

  The Abyss itself had decided to stand upright and look back at her.

  Serena narrowed her eyes. The voice. The silhouette. The intent.

  “You’re not her,” she said. “The woman from before… it wasn’t you.”

  “Save it,” the woman replied. “I’m no longer interested in what happens here.”

  She turned away.

  “But should you ever face death once more,” she added calmly.

  “The Abyss will be there, waiting to swallow you whole.”

  Her silhouette dissolved into violet flames and vanished.

  Light surged outward, washing over the chamber, blurring form and shadow alike.

  Serena closed her eyes as the Abyss was dispelled.

  Just before everything faded, a final whisper reached her, one as tender as a mother’s love.

  “Thank you for enduring, Serena.”