THE REALM BEYOND

The moment they passed through the Gate, everything changed.

Light and shadow twisted around Elira and Theron in spiraling ribbons, neither warm nor cold, neither matter nor magic. It was as though time had paused—or had never started to begin with. For a heartbeat, they floated between worlds.

Then they fell.

Not far.

But far enough.

They landed on ground that didn’t feel like earth. It was soft beneath their boots—almost like velvet moss—and glowed faintly in shades of silver and indigo. Above them, the sky was not black but a swirling ocean of stars, so close they felt they could breathe them in.

Theron straightened first, his hand instinctively reaching for Elira.

She took it, gripping tightly.

They were not alone.

---

The realm stretched endlessly before them—rolling fields of starlit grasses, obsidian trees whose leaves chimed like bells, and hills that pulsed with a rhythm like breathing.

But no sun. No moon.

Only presence.

They moved forward slowly, the path unfolding under th