Light swallowed them whole.
Not burning light.
Not blinding light.
But warm light...the kind that feels like waking from a long sleep in a place where someone has been waiting for you.
Aurelianth, Solance, and Lioren drifted upward as the world thinned beneath their feet.
The cavern dissolved into gold dust.
The trembling sky widened into a pale horizon brushed with soft colors no human tongue had ever named.
Solance clung tightly to Aurelianth's hand, his fingers still trembling around the small shard of Ariasen's essence.
"…Aurelianth…
This place...it feels like Ariasen's breath…"
Aurelianth nodded.
"It's part of them.
A memory they carved into the sky before the Architect erased it."
Lioren floated beside them, amber light rippling across her hair.
"This is… beautiful.
Like walking inside a dawn that never ended."
The pathway beneath them shimmered a wide, luminous road made of layered sunlight that curved gently upward into the open sky.
Aurelianth looked behind them.
The darkness of the cavern was gone.
The gold of Ariasen's rebirth was behind them.
The system's white scar on the horizon was far, far away...for the moment.
Aurelianth inhaled deeply.
"We're safe....for now."
Solance's silver glow steadied.
"Ariasen said this path leads to their purpose."
Lioren stepped forward onto the glowing road.
"Then let's find the first piece."
As soon as she said it, the shard in Solance's hands pulsed a soft, rhythmic heartbeat made of gold.
A pulse pointing forward.
Solance gasped softly.
"…It's guiding us."
Aurelianth touched the shard gently.
"Yes.
It's a compass made from their essence.
Follow it."
The shard pulsed again stronger and the pathway ahead brightened in response.
Lioren's expression softened.
"Then Ariasen is still with us."
Solance nodded fiercely.
"Always."
They began to walk.
The Pathway of Dawn shifted as they moved not like a stable road, but like a river of light responding to their steps.
The sky stretched infinite around them.
Clouds made of memory drifted below, each one glowing faintly with hints of what Ariasen once created:
A mountain rising.
A forest blooming.
A river laughing its first laugh.
Three suns drifting too close to each other until Ariasen gently separated them again with a loving touch.
Solance stared in awe.
"…They shaped the world like someone tucking in a child…"
Lioren smiled.
"That was their purpose...at least the part they remembered."
Aurelianth's jaw tightened thoughtfully.
"No…
Ariasen said that wasn't all.
There's something bigger behind it."
The shard pulsed rapidly, as if agreeing.
Solance held it closer to his chest.
"…First we need to find the missing piece…"
Aurelianth nodded.
"Keep your senses open.
This place responds to intent."
As if hearing him, the clouds below shifted forming a spiral, revealing a deeper layer of sky beneath.
Solance pointed.
"There! The path is changing!"
The Pathway of Dawn split into three directions.
Each path curved into a different hue:
Left — amber dusk.
Right — silver moonrise.
Center — gold sunrise.
Lioren whispered:
"It's showing us choices."
Aurelianth looked at Solance.
"Which one is calling to the shard?"
Solance closed his eyes, held the shard between both palms, and breathed.
Light rippled outward soft, silver-gold rings expanding across the pathways.
The amber path dimmed.
The silver path flickered hesitantly.
But the gold path blazed to life.
Solance opened his eyes.
"…The gold road.
That's Ariasen's core."
Lioren sighed.
"I kind of wanted to explore the silver one too…"
Solance smiled.
"We can come back when Ariasen's safe."
Aurelianth nodded firmly.
"Then we go forward."
They stepped onto the golden path.
It sang beneath their feet a gentle hum like Ariasen's heartbeat echoing through the sky.
But the moment they committed, the pathway behind them dissolved collapsing into drifting particles of dawnlight.
Solance flinched.
"It closed off fast...!"
Aurelianth steadied him.
"This path only moves forward."
Lioren exhaled slowly.
"That means we're on the right track."
The shard pulsed approval.
The golden path began to slope downward, carrying them toward a floating island.
Only it wasn't land.
It was a memory.
A fragment of the world's first dawn.
Mist curled upward from its edges warm, glowing mist that shimmered with small luminous particles like tiny stars that hadn't found the sky yet.
Aurelianth narrowed his eyes.
"This place feels… fragile."
Solance nodded.
"It feels like Ariasen's dream."
The shard in his hands grew hot.
A pulse.
A pull.
A direction.
Solance pointed toward the center of the island.
"There!"
Lioren squinted.
"What is that…?"
A small tree stood in the middle of the floating memory-island.
But it wasn't a normal tree.
It was made of light.
Golden branches.
Silver leaves.
Amber roots suspended in the air.
Aurelianth inhaled sharply.
"That's a Dawnroot Tree."
Solance blinked.
"You know it?"
Aurelianth nodded.
"Yes.
It grows only in places touched by pure creation.
Ariasen used these trees to cradle new concepts before giving them to the world."
Lioren frowned slightly.
"New concepts? Like what?"
Aurelianth stepped closer.
"Balance.
Breath.
Warmth.
Darkness.
Choice."
Solance shivered.
"…Choice?"
Aurelianth nodded.
"Yes.
The Architect hated that one most."
Lioren clenched her fists.
"Of course they did."
They reached the Dawnroot Tree.
It trembled gently, as though sensing Ariasen nearby.
The shard in Solance's hands pulsed violently.
A golden fruit hung from the tree glowing with a steady, rhythmic heartbeat.
Aurelianth whispered:
"That's the first purpose-fragment."
Lioren held her breath.
"A heart-fruit…"
Solance stepped closer.
He reached out a trembling hand but before he touched the fruit, the island shuddered.
The sky dimmed.
The clouds below turned darker, writhing like disturbed spirits.
Solance flinched back.
"…Something's wrong...!"
The shard pulsed again but this time in warning.
Aurelianth grabbed Solance's hand.
"Be careful...this is a memory-fragment.
It's protected."
The Dawnroot Tree trembled harder, branches shaking violently.
Then...
A figure stepped out of the mist.
A faint outline.
A shimmering form.
A ghost.
Solance gasped.
"…Ariasen?"
Lioren shook her head.
"No.
That's… that's something else."
Aurelianth's expression darkened.
"It's the ghost of the memory.
A remnant of what protected this fragment before Ariasen fell."
The ghost's voice echoed like a broken bell.
"Identify… intruders…"
Solance whispered fearfully:
"…It's one of Ariasen's guardians…"
Aurelianth nodded.
"Yes."
Lioren frowned.
"But shouldn't it recognize Ariasen's essence in the shard?"
Aurelianth looked at the ghost's trembling form.
"No.
It died protecting Ariasen.
It died confused… and frozen in its last emotion."
Solance winced.
"Fear…"
Aurelianth nodded.
"And duty."
The ghost floated toward them, shimmering like a figure trapped between light and memory.
"Protect… the purpose…"
Aurelianth stepped forward.
"We're here to restore Ariasen..."
The ghost screamed, light shattering around its form.
"LIE.
Ariasen is DEAD."
Solance covered his ears.
Lioren snarled.
"It doesn't know they've returned!"
The ghost charged light sharpening into a jagged spear.
Solance cried:
"Aurelianth...!"
Aurelianth met the blow with his hand, gold blazing.
The shockwave pushed him back.
Lioren grabbed him to steady him.
The ghost's scream intensified, rings of broken light swirling around it.
Aurelianth grit his teeth.
"We can't kill it.
It's a memory of Ariasen's love."
Lioren growled.
"But it's going to kill us if we don't stop it!"
Solance clutched the shard.
"…Wait…
I think I understand…"
He stepped forward.
Aurelianth grabbed him immediately.
"Solance...no...!"
Solance met his gaze, eyes glowing with quiet bravery.
"Ariasen told us the world remembers through us.This guardian died remembering their last fear… but maybe we can remind them of Ariasen's hope instead."
Aurelianth froze.
Lioren whispered:
"You're… you're right."
The ghost charged again.
Solance lifted the shard in both hands.
It pulsed in answer.
He stepped forward...
And let the ghost strike directly at him.
Aurelianth screamed his name.
Solance didn't move.
The ghost's spear struck the shard...
And everything stopped.
Light froze.
Sound froze.
The island froze.
The ghost trembled.
Solance whispered:
"…Ariasen isn't dead.
They're alive.
They're waiting for us."
The shard pulsed gently like Ariasen placing a hand on the ghost's cheek.
The ghost froze.
Its body flickered violently.
Its voice cracked.
"…Ariasen… alive…?"
Solance nodded softly.
"Yes.
And they need us.
They need you.
Please… let us help them."
The ghost's spear dissolved.
The trembling stopped.
Its form brightened gently, slowly like a grieving heart remembering love.
"…purpose… restored…"
It bowed its head.
Light wrapped around Solance in gratitude.
Then the ghost dissolved into soft particles that sank into the Dawnroot Tree.
The golden fruit fell gently into Solance's hands.
Aurelianth rushed forward, catching Solance by the shoulders.
"Are you okay?"
Solance smiled weakly.
"…I think so… It felt like they were crying…"
Lioren brushed Solance's hair back gently.
"They died protecting Ariasen.
They finally got to know Ariasen survived."
Aurelianth placed a hand over Solance's heart.
"You did something impossible."
Solance blushed softly.
"…I just… wanted them to feel safe."
Aurelianth kissed his forehead.
"You're extraordinary."
The fruit pulsed in Solance's hands.
Ariasen's voice whispered across the sky:
"…You have found my first purpose…
The purpose of remembrance…"
Lioren shivered.
"That's one piece…"
Aurelianth nodded.
Solance held the fruit close.
"…Then let's find the next."
But before they could move...
The golden sky cracked.
A blast of cold white light tore through the horizon.
The system had found them.
And the Architect's true arrival was close.