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For a moment I wondered if I was moving at all. It felt as if I were running in place while time itself stood still. The sequence was playing a game, and I was determined to break it. Whoever he was… he needed me.

I could feel it.

Thick crimson flames closed in around me, searing my nose with that wicked scent. Smoke swallowed my vision until the world turned black with smog and my mouth filled with charred air. Flames licked at my heels, eager to devour me as I chased him.

Above me, the sky trembled, breaking open into a brilliant white nova that stilled me in its wake. It burned bright and hot, like warmth tearing through the planet itself.

In a blink, the ground froze beneath my feet, silent in the glory of the blaze. Time twisted around the moment. My body was pulled through it, and suddenly I stood again where I had begun, at the edge of the woods. The flames that had consumed the forest were drawn back into the sky, sucked into the clouds in streaks of cobalt and orange. Even the choking smog vanished as if it had never existed. A thunderous crack rolled through the trees and the earth itself, filling my ears and rattling through my bones. It felt like a millennium condensed into a single breath. When the sound faded, nothing remained as it had been.

The snowfield vanished. In its place stretched a spring valley greener than anything I had ever known. Sunlight warmed the land. Flowers dotted the grass. Life pulsed through the air in abundance, everything that Eari was not.

The wind rolled through my curls like gentle hands, raising goosebumps along my skin. The clouds dissolved, revealing a clear blue sky.

My gaze searched for the man who had caused the resurrection, but he had vanished—gone like smoke. In his place remained only a whisper in the wind. “When there is fire, there is rebirth.”

Leaves floated against the wind in a stream, and the cool crisp air fluttered through my nostrils. There had been no sadness here, just life left to be. The land embraced the sunlight, and the light poured into me. Each ray sustained me as if providing nourishment to a field of flowers. Was this the reincarnation it was showing me? Spring? Could it come?

Before my mind could dwell, the seams of reality unraveled, the world collapsing into black as my consciousness pulled back into my body.

As wakefulness pressed in on me, my shoulders trembled, pulling me from the dream. Icy needles rippled down my spine, soaking through the thin cotton of my shirt. My breath came in ragged pulls as I wiped the dew from my forehead.

Whatever I had witnessed, the vision rattled me from start to finish. What could it have meant? Who was that man? Questions piled through my skull as the images rolled behind my closed lids. That spring had been the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen—but that fire… A thick lump formed in my throat, making it hard to swallow. The blaze burned so hot it felt far from ordinary, yet even further from magnificent. It was death incarnate, a curse that might have been a blessing.

Everything in existence followed a cycle, passing knowledge forward, renewing itself into something purer than before. But the version I had been shown… it had been violent. Scorching. Painful. The images flashed again behind my closed lids, as vivid as if I were still there, as if it hadn’t been a dream at all. Could it have meant something?

My gut said yes, but my mind tried to dismiss it as nothing more than a nightmare, born from a world of fear I still didn’t understand. A hand dragged down my face, a groan slipping free as my eyes finally opened. Even if I wanted to dwell, there was too much ahead to let a dream shake me. The thought slipped away, and the world came back into focus.

A subtle jolt rolled through the floor beneath. My hand searched for the hard floor of Arianna’s home, but met a plush wool blanket, hay packed just beneath it.

Boxed in by wooden walls and a low ceiling, my chest pulled tight, like it was being compressed. At the far end, twin doors braced the rear, iron hinges fitted with locks at their center, hanging open. My back slid across the pallet as my palms searched for balance. That gave it away, I was in a cart. Scratchy hay crunched beneath my weight as I pushed back, curling into the blanket wrapped around my stiff limbs.

My entire body ached from Arianna’s brutal training, the only physical marker left now that my knuckles had returned to their usual caramel tone, no longer dressed in the violet she’d so elegantly gifted me. One thing was certain: even if the sleep hadn’t been restful, it had done my body some good. My mind, however, still felt heavy. The dream clung to me, refusing to fade, as if it had meant more than rest, but I refused to let it take me.

Both arms stretched as far as the cramped space allowed. Slowly, my back pressed against the wall as I braced myself. The squeak of the wheels and frantic galloping rang in my ears, almost lulling my thoughts into slowing. The space felt like it was gliding, everything working in tandem as we cut across the snow. A stream of light pulled me from focus, pouring into my vision through the thin cloth shielding the cab, a small window at its mouth.

My feet felt like blocks of ice as they searched through the folds of the blanket. They wiggled inside my borrowed boots, legs straining forward through the caught wool until I finally kicked myself free.

Brutal wind brushed the smallest patch of exposed skin, stiffening my whole body. Ash Town had never been this cold. To keep from shivering, my sleeve was yanked over my fingers. One hand braced against the floor as I pushed upright, but the sway of the wagon buckled my knee before my balance could catch it.

The cabin and my clothes seeped with familiar scents, like a delayed response. They rose slowly, not in unison, but blending into a strange harmony, sweet and sharp. Warm chocolate laced with heated citron. The trail pulled at me, and my nose followed without thinking.

Scrambling across the floorboards, my nails dug into the grain as I leaned against the ledge. Curiosity pulled me forward, pushing my head through the thin veil.

Outside, an oiled lamp hung from the frame, casting gold across the snow. The passing road shimmered, glassy beneath the pale wash of day. A whole new world stretched beyond it, the woods thinner now, no homes in sight, yet every nearby heartbeat drummed against my ears.

At the front, Arianna held the reins, guiding a pair of large stallions along the narrow path. Valentina sat beside her, gaze sharp and fixed straight ahead. Nothing in her expression gave anything away, not a hint of emotion, not even in her usually fiery eyes. Or maybe I was wrong… and she was lost in some private, silent thought.

The dress she wore was far finer than the one I remembered. Deep burgundy, stitched with gold, its Victorian silhouette falling in soft pleats around her legs. Gilded ribbon and dark lace traced the fabric like smoke, curling along the seams.

Long sleeves hugged her arms, tapering at the wrist before spilling into dramatic silk bells. Every detail of it shaped her elegantly, as if it had been made for her alone.

Even her hair was different. The coiled curls that usually fell down her back were pinned atop her head, with loose tendrils framing the nape of her neck. Arianna’s gown matched in style, though hers was darker, almost entirely black.

My better mind couldn’t stop me before I reached through the window. Not knowing whether I meant to startle her or just get her attention, my finger tapped Val’s shoulder. “Your hair looks nice,” I murmured. I couldn’t pull the words back once they left. It was better than saying how beautiful the light made her look, so I counted it as a win.

Valentina jolted slightly in her seat, clearly surprised by the touch. Turning toward me, her gaze found mine, a shy smile lifting at the corner of her lips. “Thank you, Alexander,” she said, her voice breathy, matching the softness of her expression. “I’m surprised you’re up.” She steadied herself. “You looked exhausted when we hauled you back there.”

A grin spread across my face as something between us pulsed low in my chest. “You hauled me like I was a doll? That’s incredibly embarrassing. With all this muscle, I should’ve at least weighed two tons.” From the tree line, a deep chuckle rumbled, pulling my thoughts back to the shed, and that creature. Or… was he a man? My gaze flicked toward the trees. “Is Bomani running along?”