The world felt thinner after the Huntress’s whisper.

When I blinked, light flickered strange. When I breathed, the air tasted like moonlight and smoke. I wasn’t just awake anymore, part of me was dreaming while standing still.

Kael walked beside me, silent, his hand brushing mine every few steps as if to remind me I was still here.

“We go to the Heart of the Dream,” he said. “The Moonfire said it lies beneath everything the first thought, the first shape.”

I nodded. “The place ...