To retrieve Nathan, Elara would have to cross into the Hollow Realm—a sliver dimension between dreams and death, where souls were held in stasis or stolen for eternity.
"No one returns unmarked," Moriah warned as Elara donned ceremonial armor etched with runes of protection.
"I'm already marked," Elara said. "That's what got us here."
Aldric prepared the portal himself. "Time moves differently there. A minute here could be an hour there. Or the reverse."
She nodded. "Then we move quickly."
The portal opened like a wound in the air. Elara stepped through—and instantly everything changed.
The Hollow Realm was an endless black ocean with floating shards of memory—echoes of people, places, emotions. One fragment drifted past her, showing a childhood birthday: Nathan laughing as he smeared cake across her nose.
She whispered, "Nathan…"
More shards passed—some hers, some not. She ignored them all until she felt a pull in her chest.
Following it, she found a glass-like prison floating in the void. Inside it: Nathan, suspended, whispering words she couldn't hear.
She placed her palm to the surface.
The glyph on her chest burned—and the prison cracked.
But so did something behind her.
She turned—and saw her own reflection, smiling back with empty eyes.