Chapter 81
They rose from the garden not as gods.
Not as weapons.
But as something far rarer.
People.
The fig tree greeted them with stillness. The rain had stopped. The palace ruins glistened under a washed sky.No fire.No void.No chaos.
And yet… the world didn't feel exactly the same.
Kael felt it in his breath.
The way his shadow curved slightly differently.
The way silence didn't ring the same in his ears.
The Dream hadn't rewritten reality.
It had touched it.
And now, some corners of the world remembered possibility.
Eliendara stood beside him, arms crossed, face lifted to the clouds.
"They're gone," she whispered. "All of them."
Kael nodded. "The gods. The flames. The threats."
She turned to him. "So now what are we?"
He looked at her for a long moment.
And answered softly—
"Free."
They walked the rebuilt streets together.
People still stared.
But something had changed in their eyes.
Not awe.
Not fear.
Familiarity.
As if they no longer saw Kael the god-wrought, or Eliendara the fire-queen.
But simply… two people who had come back when they didn't have to.
The little girl from before reappeared in the square, now holding a scrap of parchment and a half-burnt stick.
She ran to Kael and held it up.
He looked down.
A drawing.
Crude, yes. But unmistakable.
Him. Eliendara. And the fig tree.
Underneath, a single word was scrawled in uneven letters.
"Stay."
He crouched, smiled, and gently handed the drawing back.
"We will."
That night, the stars returned.
Kael sat beneath the fig tree, Eliendara resting beside him.
But somewhere behind the wind, he heard a heartbeat.
Faint.
Unfamiliar.
He stood slowly.
"Do you hear that?"
Eliendara opened her eyes. "No. What?"
He followed the sound to the far edge of the garden.
There, half-buried beneath soft moss…
A cradle.
Empty.
Except for the lingering warmth of something that hadn't been there before.
Eliendara's voice was soft behind him."I don't remember this being here."
Kael nodded.
Neither did he.
And yet…
It felt like something the world had given back.
A future.
A promise.
Or maybe…
Someone they hadn't met yet.
🔮 Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 82: The Child the Dream Forgot
The cradle hidden beneath the fig tree holds more than mystery—it holds a soul the Dream left behind.
As Kael and Eliendara try to understand its origin,they discover that not all stories begin with fire…
Some are born after it ends.