CHAPTER 5

“ Yes,” I said, confused. “Why?”

    He was quiet for a long moment, his gaze fixed on the glowing crystals beneath our feet. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, thoughtful. “ That’s… impossible,” he murmured. “ Or at least, it should be.”

    “ What do you mean?” I asked, searching his face.

    He looked back at me, his jaw tight. “ The place you described—the world of bridges and trucks—it sounds like one of the realms from the old stories. A world without magic.”

    I blinked at him. “ Realms? You mean, like… other worlds?”

    Corin nodded slowly. “ Yes. Many exist beyond our own, but we only know of them through legend. The barriers between them were sealed long ago.” His eyes softened a little. “ That’s why I was shocked when I found you. I saw a light in the river, brighter than anything I’ve ever seen ore any crystal. And when I reached in, you were there.”

    I stared at him, heart thudding. “ So you think I came through… from another realm?”

   He hesitated, then said, “ It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

    The air felt heavier suddenly, the world quieter. Even the crystals seemed to dim a little around us. I wrapped my arms around myself. “ But how? How could that even happen?”

    Corin’s gaze drifted upward, to the fading sky. “ Long ago,” he said softly, “ when the Fae still had wings and our magic ran strong, there were some among the royal bloodline who could open portals between realms. They could create bridges of light—doorways from one world to another. But it came at a cost.”

    “ What kind of cost?” I asked.

    “ Their lives,” he said simply. “ Opening a portal took everything from them. Their energy, their magic, even their soul. That’s why it hasn’t been done in centuries. The power was lost… and so were the wings.”

    I swallowed hard. “ So you’re saying someone might have opened one for me? For me to end up here?”

    His gaze met mine again, intense and searching.

“ Maybe. Or maybe the realms themselves shifted for a reason. Sometimes magic has a will of its own.”

    I didn’t know what to say to that. My thoughts tangled together, too heavy to sort out. I wasn’t just lost—I might not even belong to this world at all.

    Corin must’ve seen the confusion in my face, because his voice softened. “ Whatever brought you here, must have had a reason in doing so. That’s what matters.”

    But as I looked out over the fields of tents glowing faintly beneath the sunset, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it did matter—that somehow, this strange light, this world, and my lost memories were all connected.

    And deep down, I couldn’t stop wondering if the light that saved me was trying to tell me something.

                                                                               ----

The soft wind brushed against my face as we walked farther from the healer’s tent, following the narrow path of crystals that glowed faintly beneath our feet. Their light didn’t move or shimmer, yet it pulsed gently, like a heartbeat buried deep within the ground. I couldn’t tell if it was real or if my imagination was still running wild from everything I’d heard.

    Corin walked beside me, silent and thoughtful, his boots crunching softly against the soil. The camp stretched across the field like a patchwork of beige tents, some larger for healers, others smaller for resting patients. The air smelled faintly of herbs and smoke, and soft voices drifted through the camp—low murmurs, the clinking of glass jars, a healer’s quiet laugh somewhere in the distance.

    I glanced at Corin from the corner of my eye. His shoulders were broad beneath his gray tunic, and his sand-blonde hair caught the last rays of the setting sun, glowing like woven gold. He looked otherworldly, but real—so vividly real that I almost forgot how strange everything around me was.

    My mind, though, couldn’t stop spinning. Everything he’d said earlier—the realms, the fading magic, the mention of fae—echoed through me repeatedly.

    After a long moment, I finally spoke. “ Corin… you said the royal bloodline once had that kind of power. To open portals between realms.”

    He nodded slightly, eyes still on the path ahead.

    “ Is there still… a royal bloodline left?” I asked quietly, hoping that there might be a chance for me to return home. If I am back in my own world, there might be a chance of me regaining my memories.

    The question seemed to hit him harder than I expected. His steps slowed, and his shoulders stiffened before he exhaled, the sound heavy, almost weary. When he finally turned to me, his green eyes held a sadness that words couldn’t quite touch.

    “ There was,” he said, voice low. “ But not anymore.”

    I stopped walking, turning toward him fully. “ What do you mean?”

    He looked past me, toward the horizon where the sun bled gold and violet into the sky. For a long moment, he said nothing, only stared, as if the memory itself weighed too much to carry.

    “ Nineteen years ago,” he began softly, “ the night the shadows rose from the underworld, the Crystal Kingdom burned.”

    My breath caught. “ The shadows?”

    He nodded. “ Creatures born from darkness—soulless, without mercy. They came with their king, the Shadow Demon Lord, and swept through the southern borders like a storm. Our forces barely had time to prepare. That night, I fought beside the king’s guard.”

    His jaw tightened, eyes distant now. “ The queen had gone into labor while the battle raged. The king had refused to leave her side. The healers tried to move her deeper into the Crystal Palace, but… it was already too late.”