Julian walked for what felt like days, though there was no sun or moon to measure time in this fractured world. The ash had hardened beneath his boots, silver dust clinging to the edges of his coat. The air was heavy, too quiet, as if the world itself had stopped breathing after Aurora’s sacrifice. He hadn’t spoken since the storm ended. He couldn’t. Every time he tried, his throat tightened around her name.Aurora.The coin lay cold in his palm, no longer pulsing, no longer whispering. Just a dead thing now—or so he thought. But sometimes, when he wasn’t paying attention, he could almost feel it stir. A faint warmth, like the memory of her hand.He stopped walking when he reached the edge of a cracked plain that stretched into the horizon. A single tree stood there—bare, black, lifeless. He sat beneath it, exhaustion hitting him in waves. For the first time in years, Julian let himself feel it all—the anger, the grief, the unbearable silence that came after losing her.He pressed the
Last Updated : 2025-10-14 Read more