Celestial Courtyard
The courtyard echoed with laughter and the sound of running feet.
Eight years had passed since Eon's birth, and the Celestial Realm had grown louder because of it.
Eon, now eight, was fast—but not as fast as Mira, Aria's daughter, who zipped past him in a blur of white light.
"Too slow!" she called over her shoulder.
"You're using speed bursts!" Eon shouted back, skidding to a halt. "That's cheating!"
"Says who?" Kairn, Alfred's son, laughed as he jogged up beside him. Small flames flickered playfully around his hands.
"Says the rules," Eon grumbled, but he was smiling.
Near the arched entrance to the gardens, two older kids watched them with amused expressions. Leo, Joshua and Alice's son, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Beside him, his sister Lena sat on the edge of a fountain, trailing her fingers in the water.
"They never get tired, do they?" Leo said.
Lena smiled. "Remember when we were that age?"
"I try to forget."
