The forest thinned slowly, giving way to a dirt path lined with glowing mushrooms that pulsed in soft blues and pinks. Jordan followed closely behind Ariana, still unsure whether this was a dream, a hallucination—or something terrifyingly real.
They hadn't spoken much. Ariana moved like she knew the woods intimately, her staff brushing the undergrowth now and then, stirring tiny sparks of light from the leaves. Her silver hair caught the light from the twin suns, almost white against the shadows. Her cloak clung tight around her figure, but Jordan couldn't help noticing the graceful strength in her movement.
He tried not to stare. But something else was bothering him now—something off.
Every time they passed a puddle or a shard of reflective crystal sticking from a tree trunk, his reflection… didn't look like him. At first, he thought it was just distortion. Then it wasn't.
His hair—green. Not a normal green, but deep like emerald, faintly glowing at the tips. His eyes—crystal clear blue, almost unnatural in their brightness. His shoulders felt broader, his limbs stronger. Even his face looked different. Longer. Sharper.
"Ariana?" he finally asked.
She didn't turn, but her voice came back soft. "Yes?"
"Do people… change when they fall through these Rifts?"
Now she turned. Her gaze swept him, head to toe.
"They do," she said. "If the Aether accepts them."
"Aether?"
She nodded. "The energy of this world. It changes outsiders. Heals them. Marks them."
Jordan looked down at his hands, flexed his fingers. His veins shimmered faintly beneath the skin. It was subtle—but not normal.
"I didn't ask to be marked."
"No one ever does."
They walked in silence again, and then—finally—the trees gave way.
Jordan's breath caught.
A village lay nestled in the valley below, built into stone terraces that glowed faintly with runes. Houses carved from old whitewood and silver stone shimmered in the fading light. Tall spires of crystal jutted from the earth like frozen lightning bolts, humming gently. Strange creatures moved between homes—some human-like, others… not.
As they descended into the village, people stopped and stared. Not with hostility—but caution.
"Don't speak," Ariana whispered. "Just walk."
Jordan kept close, trying to shrink himself. He could feel their eyes—whispers crawling on the wind.
A group of guards stepped out as they neared the heart of the village. They wore armor carved from bark and bone, with weapons that pulsed like living things.
"He's with me," Ariana said, firm.
The guards looked him over but didn't argue. One stepped aside and nodded.
Ariana led him toward the largest structure in the village—an arched hall with tree roots woven into its pillars. Two fireflies the size of fists floated at the entrance, bathing the doorway in warm gold.
The inside smelled of moss and incense.
And at the far end, sitting atop a raised platform of stone and root, was a man.
Tall. Stern. Wrapped in layered robes of green and obsidian. His beard was laced with beads that shimmered like starlight, and his eyes… the same piercing green as Ariana's.
The village chief.
He rose when they entered, staff in hand. Ariana bowed her head.
"Father," she said. "He came through the Rift."
The man studied Jordan in silence.
"Approach," he said.
Jordan stepped forward slowly, unsure of what to do. The moment his foot touched the carved stone of the platform, the air shifted. A strange pressure pulsed outward—like the world was… testing him.
The chief narrowed his eyes.
"The Rift hasn't opened in years," he said. "And yet it did—for you."
"I didn't come here on purpose," Jordan said quickly. "I don't even know what this place is."
The chief stepped down from the platform. He was taller than Jordan expected, broad-shouldered, radiating authority.
"You were changed by the Aether," he said. "It chose to remake you. That is not a small thing."
Jordan swallowed.
"I just want to go home."
The chief tilted his head. "You may not have that choice."
Silence fell.
Then, softly, he added: "Come. You need rest. And answers."
Ariana gestured for Jordan to follow her again. As they left the hall, the weight of everything began to settle deeper into his bones.
This wasn't just another world.
It was watching him.
And it had already changed him.