Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Anya and Lena leave the obsidian room with baby Lyra, returning to the golden city. They struggle with Elias's absence but find comfort in the seed-tree's new branch. As they settle into a routine near the door, a crack appears in the sky and a mysterious figure emerges, claiming to be the first gatekeeper's echo, offering a way to free Elias—but at a cost.
The obsidian room felt smaller now. Hollow. The silver-gold door stood where Elias had been, its warm glow the only reminder that he still existed somewhere, somehow. Anya couldn't stop staring at it. Her hand kept reaching for the handle, but she didn't open it. Not yet. Not when her fingers would feel nothing but wood and metal, not the hand that had held hers through every fracture.
Lena shifted Lyra in her arms. The baby had fallen asleep, her tiny chest rising and falling in steady rhythm. Lena's eyes were red, her jaw tight, but she held herself straight. She always did when things fell apart. She became the pillar so Anya could lean.
"We should go back," Lena said. Her voice was barely a whisper. "The seed-tree. It's waiting."
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