The descent began with silence.

No wind, no hum, no sound at all — only the sensation of falling through layers of memory. The breach wasn’t a tunnel or a passage but a transition, a point where the logic of the Echo folded back on itself.

One moment, Hale’s boots struck solid ground. The next, gravity unraveled, and the world became motion and light.

He reached instinctively toward the flicker ahead — Evelyn’s silhouette, outlined in pale gold — and found her hand. The touch ...