Chapter 12 – The Fractured Dawn (Part 3)
By the time they reached the Aetherline Ridge, the sun had barely risen. The land ahead stretched wide and scarred, littered with the remains of Custodian architecture and battlefields long forgotten.
Reika stopped suddenly. "Kairo…look."
In the distance, on a ridge of blackened stone, a figure stood – wrapped in a cloak of Riftlight, its form flickering like heat haze. It was watching them.
Taro's grip tightened on his dagger. "Please tell me that's just a weirdly shaped tree."
"It's not," Kairo said.
The figure raised its hand, and the air shimmered with energy. For a moment, the world seemed to split – two realities overlapping. One was the world as it was. The other…was what it had been. St. Kareth's stood tall again, unbroken. The sky glowed gold. And in that reflection, Kairo saw not himself, but the King – smiling.
Then the vision shattered, and the figure vanished.
Reika turned to Kairo. "What did you see?"
"Everything," he said softly. "And what's coming next.