เข้าสู่ระบบGILDEONSomething hit him in the chest the moment he stood face to face with the Shining Keeper. It was sharp and deep, like a buried hook dragged through old flesh. Not fear. Not awe. Something older than that. Something that knew her before his mind could name why.The seers had never given a proper description of her. They always said she rarely showed them her true form. But now he was looking at her as she was—flesh, scale, presence—and the sight of her settled into him in a strangely familiar way.He didn’t know what kind of fool had made him think he could walk into her domain and kill her cleanly. He had narrowed himself down to one purpose and called it certainty. Every step of his plan had felt inevitable.Now he was trapped in her snare, unable to move.And worse, he had dragged Araheen into it with him.“You bear many questions,” the Shining Keeper said, her lips still unmoving. &ldq
ARAHEENShock hit her hard, sharp enough to make her hope she had heard Gildeon wrong.“I don’t understand,” she said.His face didn’t move. There was no trace of a joke in him.“You can’t be serious, Gildeon.” She scowled. “Why would you even think about killing the Creator?”His jaw tightened. “Because it’s the only way to end this fucking senseless war between our people.”She stared at him, thrown by how steady he sounded. For one stupid moment, she had believed he had come here to simply speak with the Shining Keeper. To ask her to stop the war.How could she have been so naive to believe that?But then, the idea of killing the being who had created every living thing in the corporeal world was beyond comprehension.“You…” She swallowed. “You can’t do that. She’s the Shining Keeper. The highe
ARAHEENThere was no warning at all.One breath, she and Gildeon were standing on solid ground. The next, the folds of space and energy snapped around them and dragged them in. Her body felt flattened and stretched at once, every part of her pulled thin through some impossible passage, but through it all she never let go of Gildeon’s hand.Time fractured inside the crossing. Everything happened too quickly and far too slowly. A violent ringing filled her ears while a dull, splitting ache cut through her skull. She could see the beat of his pulse. She could taste her own thoughts. She could smell every trembling particle of herself coming apart and forcing itself back together.Then it ended.Silence rushed in so hard it felt deafening, thick enough to smother even the shape of a thought. Araheen opened her eyes with effort, as though her lids had been sealed shut for hours. Tears blurred her vision. Colors bled into one anoth
GILDEONHis father stepped toward them. “I met Ghulik here in the Dark Plane.”Gildeon’s questioning gaze snapped to the goblin.“Ghulik came from another dimension,” he said, ducking his head slightly. “As Master already knows.”“Yes,” Gildeon replied. “You told me you fell through a portal by accident and ended up in Earthland in ancient times.”He remembered their first meeting well enough. A cave in Shamibar. The war between salamanders and sylphs was still in its infancy. At first, he’d thought Ghulik was one of the last beastlings left alive. Later, he discovered that no one else could see or hear the goblin. He then realized he was a supernatural creature from another world.Back then, Ghulik had said he couldn’t remember how he’d ended up in Shamibar after escaping a life of servitude to witches in Earthland. Gildeon had guessed some
GILDEONHe remembered what Yonah had told him: once he recovered the dagger, the path into the Shining Keeper’s domain would reveal itself.The Fallen Immortal had given him nothing else. No map. No warning. Just that the chance would come when it came.Standing here now, Gildeon had to wonder if Yonah had seen all of this coming.“How do I get there?”His father turned and motioned for him to follow.Gildeon threw one last glance at the shifting projection on the wall. His eyes searched for Araheen. He didn’t see her. Relief came fast and sharp. Kohina and the others were missing too. That told him enough. They were likely together somewhere, trying to stop their people from gutting each other before there was anything left to save.That might buy him time to end this once and for all.The passage tightened as they moved. The walls folded inward until it felt less like a corridor and mo
GILDEONHe stopped dead.Seeing his father was the last thing he had expected when he stepped into the Dark Plane. For a second, his mind refused to take it in.“How?” he asked, the word rough in his throat. “Are you real?”Then the realization hit him. Back then, Daego had never truly returned from the Dark Plane. He and the thing that had worn his shape had only been sealed inside it.“I am, son.”That single word landed harder than any blow. Son. Daego smiled, and something in Gildeon’s chest gave way. For a moment, he was a child again.“Are you alive?”Daego shook his head once. “Not as a mortal lives in the breathing world,” he said. “I’m a spirit now. The plane took me in. I became part of it.”Gildeon’s mouth tightened. His lips trembled despite himself. “You know it’s me?”Daego ste
ARAH“Come on, Arah, tell us the truth.” Tonio leaned forward from the couch, his eyes more insistent than teasing. “It was you who killed those fugitives, wasn’t it?”It hadn’t been a week since the incident, and this was the first time she’d let her friends come over. They wanted details—details she
GILDEONHe stilled, masking his reaction with an innocent frown. Arah's gaze bore into him as he watched the short clip. He doubted she knew anything, but he couldn't take any chances. Behind him, he sensed Ghulik trying to slink away.‘Where do you think you’re going?’ he growled internally. The gobl
GILDEONHis fingers clenched around his phone, the continuous ringing clawing at his gut.“Damn it, Arah,” he muttered, tossing the phone onto the dashboard. The loud clack made Ghulik jump in the seat next to him.Arah going off alone to an amusement park wasn’t part of tonight’s plan. Given her stubb
GILDEONThe crabman struck first, three massive arms slashing through the air. Adrenaline surged as he threw himself back, narrowly avoiding the pincers. Compared to the creatures he'd battled thousands of Earthland years ago, this creature was low-level. Still, with his power restrained, this fight







