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Chapter 7 – Crossing the Realms
The portal shimmered before Kaelen, a veil of rippling light stretching between the floating islands. Beyond it lay the first of many realms he would have to traverse—each one unique, each one governed by its own rules and deities. The air thrummed with power, and the sigil on his arm pulsed in anticipation.
"You feel it, don't you?" the cloaked stranger asked. "Each realm has its own heartbeat, its own essence. You must attune yourself, or it will overwhelm you."
Kaelen nodded, though uncertainty knotted his stomach. The lessons of the Threshold and Astarion's puzzle still burned in his mind. Power without control had nearly consumed him. This time, he vowed, he would be ready.
He stepped through the portal. Light engulfed him, and for a heartbeat, the world dissolved. When it reformed, he found himself standing in a city of glass towers suspended above endless clouds, their spires glowing with blue fire. Creatures with translucent wings flitted through the air, while sentient constructs patrolled the streets, their eyes scanning intruders.
Kaelen felt the sigil pulse fiercely, responding to the energies of this new realm. He could sense the elemental forces embedded in the very air—wind, fire, water, and stone—all intertwined and alive. The realization hit him like a wave: his powers were connected to these forces. He could feel them responding to his thoughts, subtle at first, like ripples in a pond.
A voice broke his concentration. "Halt." A figure emerged, humanoid but glowing faintly with elemental energy. "Who enters the realm of Elyndra without permission?"
Kaelen straightened. "I am Kaelen… a traveler. I mean no harm."
The figure studied him, eyes narrowing. "Few mortals carry the sigil. Fewer still can walk between realms. You are not what you appear."
Kaelen's pulse quickened. "I am… learning who I am."
The stranger—this time not cloaked, but radiating raw elemental energy—smiled faintly. "Then you may yet survive the Convergence. Come, we have much to teach you."
Over the next hours, Kaelen learned to extend his consciousness into the realm's elemental energies, to sense shifts in air currents, currents of fire, and vibrations in the stone beneath his feet. He discovered that he could influence small events: a gust of wind bending to his will, a spark of fire flickering on his palm.
Yet, as his confidence grew, so did the sense of being watched. Shadows moved at the edges of his vision—some curious, some predatory. The realms were alive, and the gods and spirits within them were already testing him. Every interaction, every small exercise in power, was a trial, shaping him for what lay ahead.
By the time the sun—or whatever passed for it in Elyndra—began to sink below the floating towers, Kaelen felt the weight of destiny pressing against him. The Convergence was not just a celestial event. It was a reckoning, and he was its chosen fulcrum.
The cloaked figure appeared beside him once more. "Tomorrow, you will face your first enemy—a creature not of mortal design. You will need every skill, every ounce of your power, to survive."
Kaelen's hand brushed the glowing sigil on his arm. He inhaled sharply, a mixture of fear and determination filling him. The journey between realms had begun—and there was no turning back.
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