The Dreaming Sea did not move like water.

It pulsed.

Every wave was a heartbeat. Every ripple was a whisper.

I stood at its edge, watching the horizon dissolve into gray light and memory. Behind me, Ashhaven slept dreamers curled within dreamers, the Echo Born murmuring prayers in languages that had never existed before.

Kael’s presence lingered in the wind, warm, protective, fading with each breath I took toward the water.

“I’ll come back,” I whispered.

But even as I said it, the ...