The air was still in the Valley of Aeloria. Morning light streamed through the branches in fractured beams, casting an ethereal glow upon the clearing where an ancient sacred pool shimmered like liquid crystal.
It was said the pool was a place of divine resonance, a mirror between realms, a place where thoughts became visions, and memories whispered back.
Elira didn't know what drew her here—only that her feet refused to turn away. Something inside her pulsed with urgency, as though the trees themselves were calling her name.
She stepped closer to the water's edge and knelt.
Her reflection wavered.
Then it shifted.
The image staring back at her was not her own.
---
At the same time, miles away on the far end of the forest path, Kael was breathing heavily. His chair wheels were caked with dirt, and his muscles trembled from the strain of every movement. But his heart was calm.
Maren helped him over the last ridge that opened into a meadow Kael had never seen before—except in dreams.
There, in the center, was a shimmering pool unlike any he had seen in the mortal realm.
Kael's hands trembled as he reached its edge. Maren stayed back, watching with quiet awe.
Kael leaned forward, gazing into the water.
A ripple.
Then—
Her.
---
Elira gasped.
The face in the water belonged to a man—young, regal, eyes the color of ash and sunlight. He sat in what looked like a chair, his expression lined with pain but softened by awe.
> "Who…?" she whispered.
The image blinked.
Kael's breath caught.
> "Elira?"
His voice came not through the air, but through the water—soft, distant, like a memory spoken aloud.
Elira reached forward, her fingers brushing the surface. The water sparked with light where she touched it.
> "Who are you?" she asked.
> "I… I don't know how I'm seeing you. But I've dreamed of your face."
Elira's eyes widened.
> "So have I."
Silence hung, thick with meaning.
> "Are you real?" Kael asked softly.
> "I think so. I'm Elira. From Aerwyn."
Kael's hand hovered just above the surface.
> "I'm Kael… of Theralis."
Neither knew what else to say.
Then the water shimmered again—a tremor of divine energy, warning them of boundaries being crossed.
Elira clutched her pendant.
Kael felt heat bloom along his spine, like celestial fire resisting the veil.
> "This isn't supposed to happen," Elira whispered. "We're not meant to speak like this."
> "But we are," Kael said, voice firm. "I found you. Even if it's through a dream—or a pool—I found you."
The water sparked violently.
Cracks of light spread along the surface.
Kael's image began to blur.
> "Wait!" Elira cried. "Don't go yet—!"
> "I'll find you," Kael said quickly. "I swear it."
> "I'll wait," she replied, eyes glassy with tears.
And then—
The image was gone.
---
Elira sat back, breath shaking. The reflection returned to her own face, but her heart knew the truth: she had met him.
She stared into the sky and laughed quietly through her tears.
> "So you are real," she whispered. "You're really out there."
---
Kael leaned back from the pool, stunned.
Maren rushed to him.
> "What happened? You looked like you were talking to someone."
Kael nodded slowly, still dazed.
> "I saw her. I really saw her."
Maren's brows furrowed.
> "Are you sure it wasn't a vision?"
> "It was her. Her name is Elira. She's waiting."
Maren didn't question it. Not this time.
> "Then we keep moving."
Kael nodded.
> "Yes. Toward Aerwyn."
---
In the Celestial Realm, a soft chime echoed through the golden halls.
The elder deities gathered around the Mirror of Realms, its surface still flickering with images from the pool.
A stern goddess in silver robes frowned.
> "They're too close."
> "They were meant to be close," said another, gentler voice.
> "But the veil is thinning. If they meet in full awareness, the mortal plane may fracture."
The oldest of them all—a blind god whose face was covered with a veil of stars—spoke last.
> "Then let it be tested. If their bond survives what is to come, perhaps the world is ready."
> "And if it fails?" asked the silver-robed goddess.
> "Then fate will seal them apart. Forever."
---
That night, Elira lit a small fire and stared into the flames.
She whispered Kael's name aloud, over and over, like a spell. Every time she said it, it felt more real.
She took out the worn parchment again and began copying the runes from her pendant beside it.
Each rune seemed to pulse when ink touched paper.
A hidden message.
A celestial map?
She didn't know yet—but she would learn.
---
Kael, meanwhile, stared at the stars from his resting cot. He felt her presence like a pulse behind his heart. No longer just a dream—a certainty.
Maren sat beside him.
> "You believe it now, don't you?" she asked.
> "Yes."
> "That you're not just cursed… but chosen."
Kael smiled faintly.
> "Chosen by pain. But also… by her."
The fire crackled beside them.
And in the silence, a prophecy moved closer to its awakening.